Philippine exports of goods, services hit $100B
The country’s export earnings from trade of goods and services breached the $100 billion mark in 2023, reaching a record-high level as receipts grew for the third consecutive year albeit still fell short of government and industry expectations.
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) on Monday released preliminary data showing that exports of merchandise goods and services had reached $103.6 billion last year, 4.8 percent higher than the $98.83-billion receipts in 2022.
The growth was driven largely by the information technology and business process management (IT-BPM) and tourism sectors, according to the government agency.
The DTI also pointed out that merchandise goods faced challenges during the year, with electronics contracting by 3.4 percent or $955 million.
Other commodities that contributed to the decline in merchandise exports include coconut products, other agro-based items, other mineral products and petroleum products.
In contrast, fruits and vegetable exports saw higher demand.
For services exports, the DTI said that country had emerged as a “powerhouse,” recording a 17.4-percent growth, which pulled up the year’s total export performance.In particular, the DTI said that travel services contributed nearly 70 percent of the incremental service export receipts in 2023, followed by other business services.
Growth was also seen in several sectors including telecommunications, computer and information services and transport services.
Despite reaching record high in 2023, export revenues were below government target.
