Value of merchandise trade transactions between the Philippines and the rest of world for the first quarter of 1997 increased by 15.5 percent to $13.905 billion from $12.041 billion recorded during the same period in 1996. Cost of imported merchandise rose by 14.2 percent to $8.400 billion from $7.356 billion while aggregate dollar receipts from exports improved by 17.5 percent to $5.505 billion from $4.685 billion. Compared to last year, the balance of trade in goods (BOT-G) posted a slower growth rate placed at 8.4 percent to $2.895 billion from $2.671 billion.

Merchandise trade for the first month of 1997 grew by 23.9 percent to $4.529 billion from the year-ago level of $3.656 billion. Export receipts went up by 19.2 percent to $1.692 billion while payments for imports rose by 26.9 percent to $2.837 billion. The balance of trade in goods (BOT-G) was in deficit, increasing by 40.3 percent to $1.145 billion from $816.0 million last year.

Total external trade in goods for April 2009 reached $5.844 billion, representing a 36.4 percent decline from $9.184 billion recorded during the same month in 2008. This was attributed to the 37.4 percent decrease of total imports to $3.041 billion from $4.857 billion reported in March 2008. Similarly, total exports went down by 35.2 percent to $2.803 billion from $4.327 billion recorded a year earlier. Thus, the balance of trade in goods (BOT-G) for the Philippines in April 2009 registered a $238 million deficit from $529 million deficit in the same period last year.