Philippines (the) flag Philippines (the): Economic and Political Overview

Foreign trade figures of the Philippines

Foreign Trade in Figures

The Philippines is open to foreign trade, which represents around 72% of the country's GDP according to the World Bank. Main exports include electronic integrated circuits and micro assemblies (36.7%), wires and cables (3.5%), automatic data processing machines and units (2.9%), coconuts (2.7%), and printing machinery (2.6%); while imports are focused on electronic integrated circuits and micro assemblies (11.8%), petroleum oils (9.9%), coal (4.1%), crude oil (2.6%), and motor cars (2.4% - Comtrade 2022).

In 2022, the Philippines’ main export partners were the United States (15.8%), Japan (14.1%), China (13.9%), Hong Kong (13.3%), Singapore (6.2%), Thailand (4.3%), with imports coming chiefly from China (20.4%), Indonesia (9.6%), Japan (9.0%), South Korea (8.7%), and the United States (6.6% - Comtrade). The country is part of a number of trade agreements, including the Asia Free Trade Agreement, the Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM), the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA), the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement; and the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area.

Traditionally, the country's trade balance has been in deficit due to high imports of raw materials and intermediate goods. According to WTO data, in 2022, the Philippines exported USD 78.9 billion worth of goods (+5.7% y-o-y) and imported USD 145.8 billion (+17.2% y-o-y). As with regards to services, the country's export value exceeded the import value by reaching USD 41 billion and USD 25.4 billion, respectively. For the year as a whole, the Philippines' trade balance was estimated to be negative by 15.6% of GDP by the World Bank. According to preliminary figures from PSA, in 2023, the total value of exports amounted to USD 73.52 billion, marking a 7.6% decrease, whereas imports amounted to USD 125.95 billion, up by 8.2%.

 
Foreign Trade Values 20192020202120222023
Imports of Goods (million USD) 112,90990,751124,367145,867132,979
Exports of Goods (million USD) 70,33463,87974,61878,93072,918
Imports of Services (million USD) 28,22517,95619,53125,24829,262
Exports of Services (million USD) 41,26431,82233,57041,12747,946

Source: World Trade Organisation (WTO) ; Latest available data

Foreign Trade Indicators 20182019202020212022
Foreign Trade (in % of GDP) 72.268.858.263.572.4
Trade Balance (million USD) -50,972-49,312-33,775-52,806-69,393
Trade Balance (Including Service) (million USD) -39,364-36,272-19,909-38,767-53,761
Imports of Goods and Services (Annual % Change) 14.62.3-21.612.813.9
Exports of Goods and Services (Annual % Change) 11.82.6-16.18.010.9
Imports of Goods and Services (in % of GDP) 41.940.533.037.744.0
Exports of Goods and Services (in % of GDP) 30.228.425.225.828.4

Source: World Bank ; Latest available data

Foreign Trade Forecasts 20232024 (e)2025 (e)2026 (e)2027 (e)
Volume of exports of goods and services (Annual % change) 6.7-1.07.98.38.5
Volume of imports of goods and services (Annual % change) 0.16.010.610.010.4

Source: IMF, World Economic Outlook ; Latest available data

Note: (e) Estimated Data

 
International Economic Cooperation
The Philippines is a member of the following international economic organisations: IMF, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), ICC, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Colombo Plan, G-24, G-77, WTO, among others. For the full list of economic and other international organisations in which participates the Philippines click here. International organisation membership of the Philippines is also outlined here.
Free Trade Agreements
The Philippines is a member of Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) signed on 15 November 2020. The complete and up-to-date list of Free Trade Agreements signed by the Philippines can be consulted here.
 

Main Partner Countries

Main Customers
(% of Exports)
2023
United States 15.7%
China 14.6%
Japan 14.3%
Hong Kong SAR, China 12.0%
Singapore 4.8%
See More Countries 38.6%
Main Suppliers
(% of Imports)
2023
China 23.1%
Indonesia 9.2%
Japan 8.2%
United States 6.8%
South Korea 6.6%
See More Countries 46.1%

Source: Comtrade, 2024. Because of rounding, the sum of the percentages may be smaller/greater than 100%.

 
 

Main Products

72.9 bn USD of products exported in 2023
Electronic integrated circuits; parts thereofElectronic integrated circuits; parts thereof 35.6%
Insulated "incl. enamelled or anodised" wire,...Insulated "incl. enamelled or anodised" wire, cable "incl. coaxial cable" and other insulated electric conductors, whether or not fitted with connectors; optical fibre cables, made up of individually sheathed fibres, whether or not assembled with electric conductors or fitted with connectors 4.2%
Copper, refined, and copper alloys, unwrought ...Copper, refined, and copper alloys, unwrought (excl. copper alloys of heading 7405) 2.7%
Electrical transformers, static converters, e.g....Electrical transformers, static converters, e.g. rectifiers, and inductors; parts thereof 2.4%
Printing machinery used for printing by means of...Printing machinery used for printing by means of plates, cylinders and other printing components of heading 8442 (excl. hectograph or stencil duplicating machines, addressing machines and other office printing machines of heading 8469 to 8472); other printers, copying machines and facsimile machines, whether or not combined; parts thereof 2.2%
See More Products 52.9%
133.8 bn USD of products imported in 2023
Electronic integrated circuits; parts thereofElectronic integrated circuits; parts thereof 10.0%
Petroleum oils and oils obtained from bituminous...Petroleum oils and oils obtained from bituminous minerals (excl. crude); preparations containing >= 70% by weight of petroleum oils or of oils obtained from bituminous minerals, these oils being the basic constituents of the preparations, n.e.s.; waste oils containing mainly petroleum or bituminous minerals 8.4%
Motor cars and other motor vehicles principally...Motor cars and other motor vehicles principally designed for the transport of persons, incl. station wagons and racing cars (excl. motor vehicles of heading 8702) 3.7%
Petroleum oils and oils obtained from bituminous...Petroleum oils and oils obtained from bituminous minerals, crude 3.1%
Coal; briquettes, ovoids and similar solid fuels...Coal; briquettes, ovoids and similar solid fuels manufactured from coal 3.0%
See More Products 71.8%

Source: Comtrade, 2024. Because of rounding, the sum of the percentages may be smaller/greater than 100%.

 
 

To go further, check out our service Import-Export Flows.

 

Main Services

43.3 bn USD of services exported in 2023
54.21%
21.08%
15.40%
7.02%
1.01%
0.35%
0.32%
0.28%
0.20%
0.07%
0.06%
28.1 bn USD of services imported in 2023
31.03%
25.02%
23.75%
7.12%
4.21%
2.70%
2.06%
1.61%
1.28%
0.76%
0.45%

Source: United Nations Statistics Division, 2024. Because of rounding, the sum of the percentages may be smaller/greater than 100%.

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Latest Update: July 2024