Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 18) — The country brought in more foreign agricultural products last year than it sold to the world market, raising the trade deficit to nearly 40%, government data realized on Monday showed.
The Philippine Statistics Authority said agricultural trade deficit widened by 39.9% in 2021 to $8.92 billion with the growth in imports outpacing that of exports. This was higher than the $6.37 billion in 2020 when the deficit narrowed to 7%.
Agricultural imports totaled $15.71 billion last year, up by 24.9% annually. These accounted for 13.3% of the country’s overall imports in 2021.
Cereals had the biggest share in imports, accounting for $3.14 billion or 20% of the total.
Indonesia was the top contributor of import value among members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), accounting for $1.64 billion of imports from the region. This was equivalent to 30.3% of the $5.44 billion in imports from ASEAN last year.
Animal or vegetable fats and oils topped the agricultural commodity groups from ASEAN.
Meanwhile, imports from the European Union totaled $1.62 billion in 2021, with Spain having the biggest share at $333.49 million or 20.6%.
Meat and edible meat offal topped EU imports.
Agricultural export revenues totaled $6.79 billion in 2021, rising 9.4% year-on-year. Of the country’s total exports last year, these accounted for 9.1%.
The PSA said the top agricultural export commodity group was edible fruit and nuts and peel of citrus fruit melons. It had a total value of $1.93 billion, or 28.5% of total agricultural exports.
Malaysia was the top export market in ASEAN, accounting for $247.9 million of the $767.01 million total in exports from the region. Top exports to ASEAN were tobacco and manufactured tobacco substitutes, said the agency.
The Netherlands was the top market in the EU. It represented $698.11 million of the total $1.39 billion exports the region.
Animal or vegetable fats and oils also topped export commodity groups to the region, said the PSA.
