MANILA: Exports in October dropped by 10.8 percent year-on-year to $4.59 billion, down from the $5.15 billion posted in the same month last year.
Electronics and semiconductors, the top category in shipments accounting for 52 percent of total exports for the month, rose 7.3 percent from a year earlier, the statistics agency said.
Other key export sectors in October were other manufactures which dropped 30 percent from last year; machinery and transport equipment fell 18 percent; and woodcrafts and furniture rose 43.2 percent.
Exports to Japan, the country’s top destination, fell 7.7 from last year, while shipments to United States, the second biggest market, were down 13.1 percent.
Exports to third biggest market Hong Kong fell 4.3 percent form last year, while shipments to China, the fourth biggest market, dropped 31.6 percent from last year.
The industry group Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Inc. (SEIPI) had lowered its export growth target this year to 0-4 percent from the 3-5 percent estimate made in July.