Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that total merchandise import grew by 3.0% year-on-year to MOP7.31 billion in July 2020, of which imports of Beauty, cosmetic & skincare products, Construction materials and Mobile phones surged by 238.1%, 107.8% and 90.2% respectively, but those of Gold jewellery and Watches declined by 64.1% and 52.6% respectively. Total merchandise export amounted to MOP1.07 billion, up by 2.5% year-on-year. Value of domestic exports (MOP155 million) expanded by 24.9%, with that of Garments soaring by 363.4%. Meanwhile, value of re-exports (MOP913 million) went down by 0.5%, with that of Articles for casino falling by 83.2%. Merchandise trade deficit in July totalled MOP6.24 billion.
From January to July this year, total value of merchandise export decreased by 17.0% year-on-year to MOP6.18 billion, of which value of re-exports (MOP5.33 billion) dropped by 19.8% but that of domestic exports (MOP852 million) grew by 6.8%. Total value of merchandise import declined by 24.7% year-on-year to MOP36.89 billion. Merchandise trade deficit totalled MOP30.71 billion for the first seven months of 2020, down by MOP10.86 billion from MOP41.57 billion a year earlier.
Analysed by destination, merchandise export to Hong Kong (MOP4.10 billion) and the EU (MOP115 million) from January to July 2020 declined by 16.2% and 4.4% respectively year-on-year. Meanwhile, exports to mainland China rose by 18.0% to MOP1.10 billion, of which exports to the Nine Provinces of the Pan Pearl River Delta (MOP1.02 billion) grew by 14.7%. Exports to the USA (MOP289 million) expanded by 157.8% year-on-year. Besides, exports to the Belt and Road Countries (MOP180 million) increased by 36.7% and exports to the Portuguese-speaking Countries (MOP9 million) soared by 807.3%. Exports of Textiles & garments grew by 71.9% year-on-year to MOP950 million, while exports of Non-textiles went down by 24.1% to MOP5.23 billion.
By place of origin, merchandise import from mainland China (MOP13.11 billion) and the EU (MOP9.67 billion) decreased by 20.2% and 28.0% respectively year-on-year in the first seven months of 2020. Besides, imports from the Belt and Road Countries (MOP6.82 billion) and the Portuguese-speaking Countries (MOP400 million) shrank by 12.2% and 20.8% respectively. Analysed by place of consignment, merchandise import from mainland China slid by 14.5% year-on-year to MOP6.78 billion, of which imports from the Nine Provinces of the Pan Pearl River Delta (MOP6.67 billion) fell by 13.5%. Imports of Consumer goods went down by 29.0% to MOP24.20 billion, with imports of Watches (MOP1.68 billion) and Gold jewellery (MOP1.19 billion) falling by 55.8% and 64.6% respectively. Imports of Fuels & lubricants (MOP3.07 billion) and Mobile phones (MOP1.37 billion) declined by 25.3% and 46.3% respectively, whereas imports of Construction materials (MOP1.03 billion) rose by 22.4%.
External merchandise trade totalled MOP43.07 billion from January to July 2020, down by 23.7% compared with MOP56.46 billion a year earlier.
