Table 3  Philippine Imports by Major Type of Goods
         October and September 2008 and October 2007
         (FOB in Thousand U.S. Dollars)

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                                                         2008                  |       2007         |    Growth Rate
Commodity Group                              October p    |   September r      |     October        |        (%)
                                       FOB Value  % Share | FOB Value  % Share | FOB Value  % Share | Monthly    Annual
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Total Imports                          4,577,117   100.00   4,863,668   100.00   5,150,645   100.00     (5.89)   (11.14)

Capital Goods                          1,440,094    31.46   1,401,532    28.82   1,614,191    31.34      2.75    (10.79)

  Power generating and specialized
    machines                             217,125     4.74     259,897     5.34     232,139     4.51    (16.46)    (6.47)
  Office and electronic data
    processing machines                  239,198     5.23     245,445     5.05     315,527     6.13     (2.55)   (24.19)
  Telecommunication equipment
    and electrical machines              763,719    16.69     755,714    15.54     869,318    16.88      1.06    (12.15)
  Land transport equipment excluding
    passenger cars and motorized cycle    51,932     1.13      55,070     1.13      71,725     1.39     (5.70)   (27.60)
  Aircraft, Ships and Boats              122,444     2.68      41,596     0.86      76,246     1.48    194.37     60.59
  Professional scientific and control-
    ling instruments, photographic
    equipment and optical goods           45,677     1.00      43,811     0.90      49,237     0.96      4.26     (7.23)

Raw Materials & Intermediate Goods     1,712,828    37.42   1,785,623    36.71   2,060,322    40.00     (4.08)   (16.87)

  Unprocessed Raw Materials              160,714     3.51     181,118     3.72     134,983     2.62    (11.27)    19.06
       Wheat                              44,646     0.98      61,927     1.27      28,470     0.55    (27.90)    56.82
       Corn                                2,320     0.05       1,722     0.04       2,266     0.04     34.72      2.39
       Unmilled cereals excluding
         rice and corn                       715     0.02       1,035     0.02         614     0.01    (30.86)    16.41
       Crude materials, inedible          96,084     2.10      88,342     1.82      95,194     1.85      8.76      0.94
             Pulp & waste paper            5,204     0.11       4,659     0.10       4,653     0.09     11.69     11.83
             Cotton                        1,490     0.03       1,322     0.03       1,649     0.03     12.72     (9.68)
             Syn. Fibers                   4,495     0.10       8,911     0.18       8,785     0.17    (49.56)   (48.83)
             Metalliferous ores           35,141     0.77      35,327     0.73      46,899     0.91     (0.53)   (25.07)
             Others                       49,754     1.09      38,123     0.78      33,207     0.64     30.51     49.83
       Tobacco, unmanufactured            16,947     0.37      28,092     0.58       8,438     0.16    (39.67)   100.84
  Semi-Processed Raw Materials         1,552,115    33.91   1,604,506    32.99   1,925,339    37.38     (3.27)   (19.38)
       Feeding stuffs for animals         58,737     1.28      57,555     1.18      37,725     0.73      2.05     55.70
       Animal & vegetable oils & fats     13,789     0.30      26,393     0.54      14,115     0.27    (47.75)    (2.31)
       Chemical                          421,225     9.20     388,050     7.98     336,111     6.53      8.55     25.32
             Chemical compounds          111,965     2.45      96,015     1.97      91,556     1.78     16.61     22.29
             Medicinal and pharmaceutical
               chemical                   59,031     1.29      57,851     1.19      44,411     0.86      2.04     32.92
             Urea                         10,741     0.23      16,575     0.34       7,287     0.14    (35.20)    47.41
             Fertilizer excl. urea        31,117     0.68      13,507     0.28      12,624     0.25    130.38    146.50
             Artificial resins            94,312     2.06      89,755     1.85      87,585     1.70      5.08      7.68
             Others                      114,060     2.49     114,346     2.35      92,648     1.80     (0.25)    23.11
       Manufactured goods                380,310     8.31     370,327     7.61     342,468     6.65      2.70     11.05
             Paper & paper products       50,618     1.11      44,861     0.92      39,496     0.77     12.83     28.16
             Textile yarn, fabrics
               and made-up articles       56,245     1.23      60,666     1.25      72,010     1.40     (7.29)   (21.89)
             Non-metallic mineral
              manufactures                27,802     0.61      29,525     0.61      22,149     0.43     (5.83)    25.52
             Iron & steel                110,616     2.42     109,229     2.25     100,794     1.96      1.27      9.74
             Non-ferrous metals           70,575     1.54      69,877     1.44      55,068     1.07      1.00     28.16
             Metal products               38,551     0.84      30,547     0.63      32,761     0.64     26.20     17.67
             Others                       25,904     0.57      25,622     0.53      20,189     0.39      1.10     28.31
       Embroideries                        9,555     0.21       8,211     0.17      17,306     0.34     16.37    (44.79)
       Materials/Accessories for the
         manufacture of electrical
         equipment                       668,498    14.61     753,970    15.50   1,166,347    22.64    (11.34)   (42.68)
       Iron ore, not agglomerated              -        -           -        -      11,267     0.22       -     (100.00)

Mineral Fuels, Lubricant &
Related Materials                        903,538    19.74     970,318    19.95     951,362    18.47     (6.88)    (5.03)

  Coal, Coke                              47,663     1.04      25,173     0.52      22,363     0.43     89.34    113.13
  Petroleum crude                        572,357    12.50     630,841    12.97     540,520    10.49     (9.27)     5.89
  Others                                 283,519     6.19     314,304     6.46     388,478     7.54     (9.79)   (27.02)
Consumer Goods                           466,665    10.20     637,184    13.10     449,020     8.72    (26.76)     3.93
  Durable                                229,713     5.02     220,386     4.53     172,991     3.36      4.23     32.79
       Passenger cars & motorized cycle  131,751     2.88     126,134     2.59      83,054     1.61      4.45     58.63
       Home appliances                    27,634     0.60      26,693     0.55      22,675     0.44      3.53     21.87
       Misc. manufactures                 70,328     1.54      67,559     1.39      67,262     1.31      4.10      4.56
  Non-Durable                            236,951     5.18     416,798     8.57     276,029     5.36    (43.15)   (14.16)
       Food & live animals
       chiefly for food                  223,376     4.88     401,106     8.25     261,286     5.07    (44.31)   (14.51)
             Dairy products               63,362     1.38      53,169     1.09      41,317     0.80     19.17     53.35
             Fish & fish preparation       8,851     0.19       8,811     0.18      17,112     0.33      0.46    (48.27)
             Rice                         26,976     0.59     203,221     4.18      88,532     1.72    (86.73)   (69.53)
             Fruits & vegetables          22,618     0.49      21,625     0.44      16,742     0.33      4.59     35.09
             Others                      101,569     2.22     114,281     2.35      97,582     1.89    (11.12)     4.09
       Beverages & tobacco mfture.         6,216     0.14       7,138     0.15       7,199     0.14    (12.92)   (13.66)
       Articles of apparel, access.        7,359     0.16       8,554     0.18       7,544     0.15    (13.96)    (2.45)

Special Transactions                      53,992     1.18      69,011     1.42      75,751     1.47    (21.76)   (28.72)

  Articles temporarily imported &
   exported                               24,508     0.54      28,478     0.59      21,530     0.42    (13.94)    13.84
  Others                                  29,484     0.64      40,532     0.83      54,221     1.05    (27.26)   (45.62)

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         Source:  Foreign Trade Statistics Section
                  Industry and Trade Statistics Department
                  National Statistics Office
                  Republic of the Philippines

         Note:    Components may not add up to total due to rounding.
                  p  Preliminary
                  r  Revised

         Page last updated:  December 24, 2008
         
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