Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the value of total exports of goods amounted to MOP631 million in July 2009, down by 60.8% year-on-year, with the value of domestic exports falling sharply by 74.8% to MOP256 million and that of re-exports dropping by 36.6% to MOP375 million. The value of total imports of goods amounted to MOP3.20 billion, down by 23.1% year-on-year. A trade deficit of MOP2.57 billion was recorded for July 2009.

From January to July 2009, total value of merchandise exports fell substantially by 55.3% year-on-year to MOP4.53 billion, of which the value of domestic exports and re-exports declined by 69.5% and 31.4% respectively; meanwhile, total value of merchandise imports slid by 21.8% to MOP20.01 billion. The trade deficit for the first seven months of 2009 was similar to that of last year, at MOP15.48 billion; the exports/imports ratio went down by 17.0 percentage points year-on-year to 22.6%.

Analyzed by destination of Macao’s exports, in the first seven months of 2009, the value of merchandise exports to the USA, the EU and Mainland China decreased by 79.0%, 59.6% and 44.8% respectively year-on-year. The value of Textile & garment exports declined by 72.0% year-on-year to account for 37.6% of the total exports of goods; meanwhile, the value of Non-textile exports dropped by 30.0%.

Regarding the country of origin of imported goods, value of merchandise imports from Mainland China dropped by 41.9% year-on-year, but that from the EU rose by 4.2%. The value of imports by Broad Economic Category registered year-on-year decrease, of which Raw materials & semi-manufactures and Fuels & lubricants fell by 43.0% and 29.5% respectively; meanwhile, the value of imports of Consumer goods recorded a mild decrease of 8.4%, with that of Food & beverages rising by 15.6%.