SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 1989
HK'S EXTERNAL TRADE PERFORMANCE IN DECEMBER, AND 1988
TOTAL
MERCHANDISE TRADE IN DECEMBER 1988, AT $99,483 MILLION, GREW BY 30 PER CENT IN VALUE TERMS COMPARED WITH DECEMBER 1987. ACCORDING TO THE DETAILED FIGURES ON THE VALUE OF TRADE IN DECEMBER AND THE WHOLE YEAR OF 1988 RELEASED TODAY (SUNDAY) BY THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT.
DECEMBER MILLION, MILLION, 1987.
DOMESTIC EXPORTS INCREASED BY 12 PER CENT TO $21,175 MILLION IN 1988, WHILE RE-EXPORTS ROSE BY 48 PER CENT TO $28,121 THUS BRINGING TOTAL EXPORTS IN DECEMBER 1988 TO $49,296 WHICH REPRESENTED AN INCREASE OF 30 PER CENT OVER DECEMBER OVER THE SAME PERIOD OF COMPARISON, IMPORTS INCREASED BY 29 PER CENT TO $50,186 MILLION.
COMPARING DECEMBER 1988 WITH DECEMBER 1987, SUBSTANTIAL GROWTH WAS RECORDED IN THE VALUE OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS TO JAPAN (+42 PER CENT}, CHINA (+23 PER CENT), THE U.S.A. (+17 PER CENT), SINGAPORE {+16 PER CENT) AND AUSTRALIA (+12 PER CENT). THE VALUE OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS ΤΟ THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY AND THE UNITED KINGDOM ALSO INCREASED, BOTH BY 9 PER CENT.
IMPORTS FROM ALL MAJOR SUPPLIERS INCREASED IN VALUE TERMS IN DECEMBER 1988 OVER DECEMBER 1987, PARTICULARLY THOSE FROM ITALY (+41 PER CENT), TAIWAN (+39 PER CENT), CHINA (+36 PER CENT), THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA (+35 PER CENT) AND JAPAN (+33 PER CENT). THE VALUE OF IMPORTS FROM THE U.S.A. INCREASED BY ONLY 1 PER CENT.
AND
RE-EXPORTS TO THE U.S.A., THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY THE UNITED KINGDOM INCREASED SUBSTANTIALLY IN VALUE TERMS OVER THE SAME PERIOD OF COMPARISON, BY 75 PER CENT, 63 PER CENT AND 61 PER CENT RESPECTIVELY. THE VALUE OF RE-EXPORTS TO TAIWAN, JAPAN, CHINA AND AUSTRALIA ALSO INCREASED, BY 54 PER CENT, 51 PER CENT, 49 PER CENT AND 47 PER CENT RESPECTIVELY.
TOTAL MERCHANDISE TRADE IN THE YEAR 1988, AT $991, 867 INCREASED BY 31 PER CENT COMPARED WITH THE YEAR 1987.
OVER THE SAME PERIOD OF COMPARISON, THE VALUE OF EXPORTS INCREASED BY 11 PER CENT TO $217,664 MILLION, WHILE INCREASED BY 51 PER CENT TO $275, 105 MILLION. THUS, THE TOTAL EXPORTS INCREASED BY 30 PER CENT TO $493,069 MILLION. INCREASED BY 32 PER CENT TO $498,798 MILLION.
MILLION,
PESTIC
RTS OF
IMPORTS
A MERCHANDISE TRADE DEFICIT OF $5,729 MILLION, EQUIVALENT ΤΟ 1 .1 PER CENT OF THE VALUE OF IMPORTS, WAS RECORDED IN 1988, COMPARED WITH A SMALL SURPLUS OF $87 MILLION (OR 0.02 PER CENT OF THE VALUE OF IMPORTS) IN 1987.
COMPARING THE YEAR 1988 WITH THE YEAR 1987, DOMESTIC EXPORTS TO ALL MAJOR MARKETS INCREASED IN VALUE TERMS.
THE MARKETS