Philippines faces trade imbalance as apparel imports rise

The Philippines exported $199.645 million worth of apparel and imported $181.368 million during the first four months of the previous year. In 2023, total apparel exports amounted to $645.486 million, while imports were valued at $653 million, according to Fibre2Fashion's market insight tool TexPro.

A closer analysis of the trade basket reveals that shirts dominated the export sector, with outbound shipments valued at $39.347 million, accounting for 20.74 per cent of total exports in the first four months of 2024. Other notable exports included dresses ($36.493 million or 19.24 per cent), trousers and shorts ($21.075 million or 11.11 per cent), innerwear ($20.217 million or 9.33 per cent), and accessories ($12.015 million or 6.33 per cent).

Conversely, trousers and shorts were the most imported garments, with imports valued at $54.724 million, representing 25.58 per cent of total imports. Other key imports included T-shirts ($34.010 million or 15.90 per cent), shirts ($31.443 million or 14.70 per cent), accessories ($19.616 million or 9.17 per cent), and jerseys ($12.168 million or 5.69 per cent), as per TexPro.

In the previous year, shirt exports were recorded at $111.565 million (17.28 per cent), dresses at $108.322 million (16.78 per cent), jerseys at $65.751 million (10.19 per cent), trousers and shorts at $60.217 million (9.33 per cent), and innerwear at $57.747 million (8.95 per cent). On the import side, trousers and shorts led with $162.104 million (24.80 per cent), followed by T-shirts at $105.497 million (16.14 per cent), shirts at $97.628 million (14.94 per cent), jerseys at $45.070 million (6.49 per cent), and accessories at $39.606 million (6.06 per cent).

ALCHEMPro News Desk (KUL)