Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that total merchandise export amounted to MOP899 million in January 2023, down by 37.2% year-on-year. Value of re-exports (MOP810 million) fell by 34.3%, of which re-exports of Diamond & diamond jewellery and Watches declined by 83.1% and 63.8% respectively, while those of Articles for casino leapt by 735.3%. Value of domestic exports (MOP89 million) shrank by 55.4%, of which domestic exports of Garments and Pharmaceutical products & organic chemicals tumbled by 79.8% and 50.3% respectively. Meanwhile, total merchandise import went down by 24.7% year-on-year to MOP10.45 billion; imports of Mobile phones, Gold jewellery and Beauty, cosmetic & skincare products reduced by 56.8%, 37.1% and 32.8% respectively, whereas imports of Electronic components and Food & beverages surged by 102.1% and 2.5% respectively. Merchandise trade deficit in January 2023 totalled MOP9.56 billion.

Analysed by destination, merchandise export to Hong Kong (MOP713 million), the USA (MOP19 million) and the EU (MOP7 million) decreased by 38.4%, 67.7% and 59.9% respectively year-on-year in January 2023. Exports to mainland China fell by 35.7% year-on-year to MOP57 million, of which exports to the Nine Provinces of the Pan Pearl River Delta (MOP53 million) fell by 28.4%. In addition, exports to the Belt and Road Countries (MOP23 million) dropped by 31.9%. Exports of Textiles & garments went down by 45.8% year-on-year to MOP78 million, and exports of Non-textiles dipped by 36.3% to MOP822 million.

By place of origin, merchandise import from the EU (MOP3.76 billion) and mainland China (MOP3.01 billion) in January 2023 reduced by 25.4% and 29.4% respectively year-on-year. Imports from the Belt and Road Countries (MOP2.23 billion) fell by 15.7%, while imports from the Portuguese-speaking Countries (MOP125 million) surged by 65.1%. Analysed by place of consignment, merchandise import from Hong Kong (MOP8.79 billion) dropped by 27.8% year-on-year. Meanwhile, imports from mainland China grew by 8.2% to MOP1.33 billion, with imports from the Nine Provinces of the Pan Pearl River Delta (MOP1.30 billion) rising by 7.2%. Imports of Consumer goods went down by 24.3% to MOP7.80 billion, of which imports of Beauty, cosmetic & skincare products (MOP1.18 billion), Garments & footwear (MOP1.04 billion) and Gold jewellery (MOP849 million) shrank by 32.8%, 29.6% and 37.1% respectively; on the other hand, imports of Food & beverages (MOP1.67 billion) rose by 2.5%. Imports of Fuels & lubricants (MOP455 million) went up by 2.7%, whereas imports of Mobile phones (MOP723 million) and Construction materials (MOP139 million) dipped by 56.8% and 38.8% respectively.

External merchandise trade totalled MOP11.35 billion in January 2023, down by 25.9% compared with MOP15.32 billion a year earlier.