Date Released: March 5, 2008
FOREIGN TRADE INDICES
SECOND QUARTER 2006
(1995=100)
SUMMARY
Growth Rate in Merchandise Foreign Trade Indices:
2nd Quarter and 1st Quarter 2006
| Index | Year-on-Year | Quarter-on-Quarter | ||
| 2nd Qtr 2006 | 1st Qtr 2006 | 2nd Qtr 2006 | 1st Qtr 2006 | |
| VALUE INDEX | ||||
| Exports | 19.6 | 14.3 | 8.6 | -1.8 |
| Imports | 16.5 | 11.5 | 19.9 | -9.5 |
| PRICE INDEX | ||||
| Exports | 1.6 | 9.6 | -9.5 | 0.7 |
| Imports | 11.7 | 13.8 | 0.0 | 4.2 |
| QUANTITY INDEX | ||||
| Exports | 17.7 | 4.0 | 20.3 | -2.7 |
| Imports | 4.5 | -2.2 | 19.9 | 12.8 |
Value index for both exports and imports sustained their double-digit positive year-on-year growth during the first two quarters of 2006.
Price index for imports maintained its double-digit annual positive growth since the third quarter of 2005. Similarly, exports continued to show a positive rate from zero percentage growth recorded during the third quarter of 2004, although at a slower rate.
Volume index for exports continued to improve since the first quarter of 2006 after a series of negative growth rates posted in 2005, while imports exhibited a positive growth after a decrease in the first quarter of 2006.
I. VALUE INDEX
A. Exports
- Year-on-Year (2nd Quarter 2006 over 2nd Quarter 2005)
Merchandise exports registered an aggregate value index of 271.5 representing a 19.6 percent rise from 227.1 index points during the same quarter in 2005. Composite index for Manufactured Goods Classified Chiefly by Materials had the biggest increment of 96.8 percent to 280.4 index points from 142.5 index points during the second quarter of 2005. Value index for Beverages and Tobacco, on the other hand, posted the highest decline of 15.6 percent to 391.2 index points from 463.4 index points during the second quarter of 2005.
Value index for Electronic Products went up by 15.4 percent to 434.5 index points from 376.5 index points during the same quarter of 2005.
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B. Imports
Year-on-Year (2nd Quarter 2006 over 2nd Quarter 2005)
Value index for merchandise imports continued to post a double-digit growth at 16.5 percent since the third quarter of 2005. The growth in the current quarter could be attributed to the increases of the six commodity sections with Commodities and Transactions N.E.C. leading, which rose by 34.3 percent to 266.90 index points from 198.68 index points during the second quarter of 2005.
Value index for imports of Electronic Products went up by 13.1 percent to 323.7 index points from 286.1 index points during the same quarter of 2005.
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II. PRICE INDEX
A. Exports
Year-on-Year (2nd Quarter 2006 over 2nd Quarter 2005)
Albeit at a slower rate, price index for total merchandise exports continued to exhibit annual positive rate, as it grew by 1.6 percent to 124.0 index points from 122.0 index points during the second quarter of 2005. The upward movement in the overall export price index for the current quarter was due to the increases in six commodity sections with Mineral Fuels, Lubricants and Related Materials and Commodities and Transactions N.E.C., contributing the highest growth at 23.4 percent and 23.3 percent, respectively. However, declines were noted in three commodity sections with Chemicals and Related Products, N.E.S. posting the largest negative growth of 18.9 percent.
The price index for Electronic Products grew by 5.0 percent to 198.0 index points from 188.5 index points during the same quarter of 2005.
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Year-on-Year (2nd Quarter 2006 over 2nd Quarter 2005)
Price index for merchandise imports sustained its double-digit growth of 11.7 percent to 124.0 index points from 111.0 index points during the second quarter of 2005. Increments were observed in four major sections with Commodities and Transactions N.E.C. and Mineral Fuels, Lubricants and Related Materials posting the highest positive growth at 63.2 percent and 37.3 percent, respectively.
Similarly, the price index for imports of Electronic Products went up by 2.0 percent to 164.2 index points from 161.0 index points during the second quarter of 2005.
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III. VOLUME INDEX
Year-on-Year (2nd Quarter 2006 over 2nd Quarter 2005)
The volume of merchandise exports registered a 17.7 percent year-on-year increment to 219.0 index points from 186.0 index points during the same quarter of 2005. Positive growth rates were noted in five commodity sections with Manufactured Goods Classified Chiefly by Materials posting the highest increase of 131.7 percent. On the contrary, negative growths were observed in the remaining five commodity sections with the biggest decline in Chemicals and Related Products, N.E.S of 49.5 percent.
Similarly, volume index of Electronic Products inched-up by 9.9 percent to 219.5 index points from 199.7 index points during the second quarter of 2005.
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Year-on-Year (2nd Quarter 2006 over 2nd Quarter 2005)
Volume index for merchandise imports showed a positive growth of 4.5 percent during the current quarter after posting a negative growth in the first quarter of 2006. The growth was due to the increases of the four commodity sections with Machinery and Transport Equipment and Manufactured Goods Classified Chiefly by Materials posting the highest of 18.4 percent and 15.6 percent, respectively.
Year-on-year increase of 11.0 percent was likewise noted in the volume index for Electronic Products to 197.1 index points from 177.7 index points recorded in the second quarter of 2005.
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IV. TECHNICAL NOTES
A. Objectives and Uses of Merchandise Trade Indexes
The National Statistics Office generates Merchandise Trade Indexes, namely value index, quantity index and price index for merchandise exports and imports. These indexes provide a general measure of the changes in value, volume and prices of exported/imported commodity or group of commodities in a given period of time. Thus, these mainly measure the composite changes in the value, quantity and price of various merchandise trades over time.
The main objective of using indexes is to break down changes in the values of exports or imports into price changes and volume changes. Thus, indexes help us analyze whether a change in value of exports or imports of a commodity or group of commodities can be explained by changes in prices, volumes or both. Furthermore, indexes can be used to (1) measure price behavior in international markets, and (2) serve as basis for calculating volume of merchandise trade, which is what is measured in Gross Domestic Product.
B. Source Data and Calculations for Merchandise Trade Indexes
The index calculations are based on the customs declarations, i.e., export and import documents, collected by the National Statistics Office from the Bureau of Customs. For purposes of calculating indexes, the information on the F.O.B. value (in US Dollars) and the quantity exported and imported are used. Furthermore, the base year used is 1995 so that the base data used are the values and quantities of exports and imports of specific commodities in 1995. The value index of a commodity is computed as the quotient of current and base year value. Similarly the price index of the same is calculated as the ratio of current price over base price. In addition, the relative importance of commodities (i.e., weights) in the total export/import is taken into account in the computation of price index. Finally, the quantity index is derived as the ratio between the computed value indexes over the computed price indexes.
The over-all merchandise trade indexes are generated using ten commodity sections in the Philippine Standard Commodity Classification (PSCC) of 1993. The ten sections are: Food and Live Animals; Beverages and Tobacco; Crude Materials, Inedible, Except Fuels; Mineral Fuels, Lubricants and Related Materials; Animal and Vegetable Oils, Fats and Waxes; Chemicals and Related Products; Manufactured Goods Classified Chiefly by Materials; Machinery and Transport Equipment; Miscellaneous Manufactured Articles and Commodities and Transactions NEC in the PSCC.
The most detailed commodity specification contains approximately 8,314 commodity sub-items and they are defined as aggregate of the commodity classification by which the indexes are based on.
Detailed discussion on the methodology can be found in special releases on Foreign Trade posted on the NSO website, http://www.census.gov.ph/data/sectordata/datafts.html.
(Sgd.) CARMELITA N. ERICTA
Administrator
Source: National Statistics Office
Manila, Philippines
Page last updated: March 6, 2008