XN000022-1987-12-24 — Page 2

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 24, 1987

PROVISIONAL TRADE FIGURES FOR NOVEMBER RELEASED

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HONG KONG'S EXTERNAL TRADE CONTINUED TO GROW SUBSTANTIALLY NOVEMBER 1987, ACCORDING TO THE PROVISIONAL TRADE FIGURES PUBLISHED TODAY (THURSDAY) BY THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT.

COMPARED WITH OCTOBER, THE YEAR-ON-YEAR GROWTH RATE OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS SLOWED DOWN FURTHER, WHILE THOSE OF RE-EXPORTS AND IMPORTS INCREASED.

THE VALUE OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS IN NOVEMBER 1987 WAS $17,077 MILLION, 14.8 PER CENT OR $2,207 MILLION HIGHER THAN IN NOVEMBER 1986, WHILE THE VALUE OF RE-EXPORTS INCREASED BY 43.1 PER CENT OR $5,292 MILLION TO $17,567 MILLION.

THE VALUE OF TOTAL EXPORTS (DOMESTIC EXPORTS PLUS RE-EXPORTS), AT $34,644 MILLION, WAS 27.6 PER CENT OR $7,499 MILLION HIGHER THAN IN NOVEMBER 1986.

THE VALUE OF IMPORTS GREW BY 31.6 PER CENT OR $8,224 MILLION OVER NOVEMBER 1986 TO $34,270 MILLION.

AS THE VALUE OF IMPORTS IN NOVEMBER 1987 GREW AT A FASTER RATE THAN THAT OF TOTAL EXPORTS, THE VISIBLE TRADE SURPLUS IN NOVEMBER 1987 WAS REDUCED TO $374 MILLION, EQUIVALENT TO 1.1 PER CENT OF THE VALUE OF IMPORTS.

THE SURPLUS RECORDED IN NOVEMBER 1986 WAS $1,099 MILLION. EQUIVALENT TO 4.2 PER CENT OF THE VALUE OF IMPORTS IN THAT MONTH.

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PUTTING THE MONTH'S TRADE FIGURES INTO CONTEXT THE VALUE OF TOTAL EXPORTS FOR THE FIRST 11 MONTHS OF THIS YEAR WAS $340,129 MILLION. MADE UP OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS OF $176,404 MILLION AND RE-EXPORTS OF $163,725 MILLION.

COMPARED WITH THE SAME PERIOD IN 1986, THE VALUE OF TOTAL EXPORTS GREW BY $91,594 MILLION OR 36.9 PER CENT, THAT OF DOMESTIC EXPORTS BY $37,788 MILLION OR 27.3 PER CENT, AND THAT OF RE-EXPORTS BY $53,806 MILLION OR 49 PER CENT.

OVER THIS PERIOD, THE VALUE OF IMPORTS GREW BY $90,643 MILLION OR 36.5 PER CENT, TO $339,130 MILLION.

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