Growth of Philippine imports accelerated sharply in December, data from the National Statistics Office showed Tuesday.
Imports grew 13.2 percent year-on-year in December to $5.246 billion. This was much faster than a 2.3 percent gain in the previous month.
Month-on-month, imports rose 2.1 percent after a 1.9 percent fall in the previous month.
Purchases of electronic products, that accounted for 24.6 percent of the total imports in December, rose 1.4 percent annually and was up 2.3 percent compared to the previous month.
Total external trade in goods reached $9.216 billion, representing a 14.6 percent increase from the same month in 2011. The increase can be attributed to the 16.5 percent growth in exports to $3.971 billion, the statistical office said.
For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com