Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the value of total exports of goods amounted to MOP692 million in April 2009, down by 48.9% year-on-year, with the value of domestic exports falling sharply by 70.8% to MOP243 million and that of re-exports dropping by 14.0% to MOP449 million. The value of total imports of goods amounted to MOP2.95 billion, down by 22.3% year-on-year. A trade deficit of MOP2.26 billion was recorded for April 2009.

From January to April 2009, total exports of goods fell by 49.4% year-on-year to MOP2.71 billion, with the value of domestic exports and re-exports declining by 65.3% and 22.1% respectively. Meanwhile, total imports of goods slid by 21.4% to MOP11.15 billion, and the trade deficit for the first four months of 2009 narrowed by 4.4% to MOP8.44 billion. The exports/imports ratio went down by 13.5 percentage points year-on-year to 24.3%.

Analysed by destination of Macao’s exports, in the first four months of 2009, the value of merchandise exports to the USA, the EU and Mainland China decreased by 73.4%, 57.9% and 41.6% respectively year-on-year. The value of Textile & garment exports declined by 66.6% year-on-year to account for 39.2% of the total exports of goods; meanwhile, the value of Non-textile exports dropped by 24.2%.

Regarding the country of origin of imported goods, the value of imports from Mainland China and Hong Kong dropped by 43.4% and 16.9% respectively year-on-year. The value of imports of all broad economic categories continued to decline, of which Raw materials & semi-manufactures dropped by 44.8% and Fuels & lubricants fell by 30.0%; meanwhile, the value of imports of Consumer goods recorded a slower decrease of 7.7%, with that of Food & beverages rising by 11.1%.