Philippine ag trade deficit narrows by 12% to $859M in April

The Philippines' agricultural goods trade deficit narrowed by 12% year-on-year in April to $859.04 million, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

Agricultural exports rose 8.7% to $743.22 million in April, accounting for 11% of total exports and 31.7% of two-way trade in farm products.

Imports of agricultural goods decreased by 3.5% year-on-year to $1.60 billion, representing 15.6% of all Philippine imports that month.

The PSA highlighted that animal fats and oils, prepared edible fats, and waxes were the top export commodities, valued at $256.47 million or 34.5% of agricultural exports in April.

ASEAN countries purchased $47.90 million worth of Philippine agricultural products in April, with Malaysia being the largest buyer at $15.25 million.

The Netherlands was the main importer of Philippine agricultural goods from the European Union (EU), accounting for 63.6% of EU purchases totaling $155.82 million.