Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that total merchandise import expanded by 56.6% year-on-year to MOP13.43 billion in November 2020, of which imports of Beauty, cosmetic & skincare products, Perfumes and Handbags & wallets soared by 381.1%, 181.7% and 78.6% respectively, but those of Articles for casino, Fuels & lubricants and Mobile phones declined by 64.8%, 36.1% and 11.6% respectively. Total merchandise export amounted to MOP957 million, down by 15.7% year-on-year. Value of re-exports (MOP810 million) dropped by 16.6%, with that of Articles for casino falling by 82.7%. Meanwhile, value of domestic exports (MOP147 million) went down by 10.5%, with that of Tobacco decreasing by 80.9%. Merchandise trade deficit in November totalled MOP12.47 billion.

From January to November this year, total value of merchandise export decreased by 17.9% year-on-year to MOP9.60 billion, of which value of re-exports (MOP8.21 billion) dropped by 20.7% but that of domestic exports (MOP1.40 billion) grew by 3.2%. Total value of merchandise import dipped by 0.5% year-on-year to MOP80.80 billion. Merchandise trade deficit totalled MOP71.19 billion for the first eleven months of 2020, up by MOP1.72 billion from MOP69.48 billion a year earlier.

Analysed by destination, merchandise export to Hong Kong (MOP6.58 billion) and the EU (MOP167 million) from January to November 2020 declined by 12.3% and 4.8% respectively year-on-year. On the other hand, exports to mainland China rose by 2.5% to MOP1.48 billion, of which exports to the Nine Provinces of the Pan Pearl River Delta (MOP1.37 billion) held stable year-on-year. Exports to the USA (MOP502 million) jumped by 101.5% year-on-year, whereas exports to the Belt and Road Countries (MOP258 million) decreased by 21.8%. Meanwhile, exports to the Portuguese-speaking Countries (MOP11 million) leapt by 765.3%. Exports of Textiles & garments expanded by 56.3% year-on-year to MOP1.49 billion, while exports of Non-textiles went down by 24.5% to MOP8.11 billion.

By place of origin, merchandise import from mainland China (MOP23.78 billion) decreased by 15.0% year-on-year in the first eleven months of 2020, while imports from the EU (MOP24.33 billion) increased by 9.4%. Imports from the Belt and Road Countries (MOP12.73 billion) and the Portuguese-speaking Countries (MOP623 million) reduced by 9.5% and 19.7% respectively. Analysed by place of consignment, merchandise import from Hong Kong rose by 4.9% year-on-year to MOP66.45 billion; on the other hand, imports from mainland China slid by 15.2% to MOP11.10 billion, of which imports from the Nine Provinces of the Pan Pearl River Delta (MOP10.89 billion) fell by 14.5%. Imports of Consumer goods went up by 5.3% to MOP59.14 billion, with imports of Beauty, cosmetic & skincare products (MOP17.22 billion) surging by 178.2%; meanwhile, imports of Watches (MOP3.93 billion) and Gold jewellery (MOP2.76 billion) went down by 33.9% and 53.1% respectively. Imports of Fuels & lubricants (MOP4.73 billion) and Mobile phones (MOP3.17 billion) declined by 28.5% and 35.2% respectively, whereas imports of Construction materials (MOP1.76 billion) grew by 13.5%.

External merchandise trade totalled MOP90.40 billion from January to November 2020, down by 2.7% compared with MOP92.88 billion a year earlier.