Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that total merchandise import expanded by 32.9% year-on-year to MOP11.56 billion in October 2020, of which imports of Beauty, cosmetic & skincare products, Perfumes and Handbags & wallets soared by 312.0%, 100.2% and 76.1% respectively, but those of Articles for casino, Mobile phones and Gold jewellery declined by 80.4%, 56.8% and 41.9% respectively. Total merchandise export amounted to MOP792 million, down by 32.4% year-on-year. Value of re-exports (MOP682 million) dropped by 35.0%, with that of Machines, apparatus & parts falling by 67.1%. Meanwhile, value of domestic exports (MOP110 million) went down by 10.8%, with that of Bread, pastry, cakes, biscuits & other bakers’ wares decreasing by 66.6%. Merchandise trade deficit in October totalled MOP10.77 billion.
From January to October this year, total value of merchandise export decreased by 18.1% year-on-year to MOP8.65 billion, of which value of re-exports (MOP7.40 billion) dropped by 21.1% but that of domestic exports (MOP1.25 billion) grew by 5.1%. Total value of merchandise import declined by 7.1% year-on-year to MOP67.45 billion. Merchandise trade deficit totalled MOP58.80 billion for the first ten months of 2020, down by MOP3.24 billion from MOP62.04 billion a year earlier.
Analysed by destination, merchandise export to Hong Kong (MOP5.90 billion) and the EU (MOP153 million) from January to October 2020 declined by 13.5% and 4.4% respectively year-on-year. On the other hand, exports to mainland China rose by 3.2% to MOP1.35 billion, of which exports to the Nine Provinces of the Pan Pearl River Delta (MOP1.25 billion) grew by 0.2%. Exports to the USA (MOP459 million) jumped by 122.1% year-on-year. Exports to the Belt and Road Countries (MOP241 million) decreased by 6.4%, whereas exports to the Portuguese-speaking Countries (MOP10 million) leapt by 725.5%. Exports of Textiles & garments expanded by 61.5% year-on-year to MOP1.36 billion, while exports of Non-textiles went down by 25.0% to MOP7.29 billion.
By place of origin, merchandise import from mainland China (MOP20.55 billion) and the EU (MOP19.45 billion) decreased by 17.2% and 2.3% respectively year-on-year in the first ten months of 2020. Besides, imports from the Belt and Road Countries (MOP10.90 billion) and the Portuguese-speaking Countries (MOP564 million) reduced by 12.6% and 20.3% respectively. Analysed by place of consignment, merchandise import from mainland China slid by 15.9% year-on-year to MOP10.00 billion, of which imports from the Nine Provinces of the Pan Pearl River Delta (MOP9.83 billion) fell by 15.1%. Imports of Consumer goods went down by 3.9% to MOP48.39 billion, with imports of Watches (MOP3.23 billion) and Gold jewellery (MOP1.97 billion) falling by 40.7% and 61.7% respectively; meanwhile, imports of Beauty, cosmetic & skincare products (MOP13.38 billion) surged by 148.1%. Imports of Fuels & lubricants (MOP4.39 billion) and Mobile phones (MOP2.41 billion) declined by 27.9% and 40.3% respectively, whereas imports of Construction materials (MOP1.53 billion) rose by 11.1%.
External merchandise trade totalled MOP76.10 billion from January to October 2020, down by 8.5% compared with MOP83.17 billion a year earlier.
