Philippines' merchandise exports increased at a significantly faster rate in December, and the rate of growth far exceeded economists' expectations, latest data showed.
Export of goods jumped 16.5 percent year-on-year to $3.97 billion in December, after growing 5.5 percent in November, the National Statistics Office said. Economists had forecast a 7.7 percent gain.
The faster growth reflects sharp increases in shipments of food products, petroleum products and metal components, the agency said.
Dispatches of electronic goods, which accounted for 37.9 percent of the total exports, however, decreased 5.5 percent annually after rising 13.3 percent in November. Sequentially, electronics exports decreased by 13.2 percent.
On a monthly basis, total shipments advanced 11.8 percent in December, reversing the previous month's 19.5 percent fall.
In the whole of 2012, overall exports increased 7.6 percent from the previous year to $51.994 billion, data showed.
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