Exports down 6.7% in May

Double-digit declines were recorded for the total export volume to India and the US.

The volume of total exports of goods dipped 6.7% YoY in May, according to data from the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD). Over the first five months of 2020, exports volumes dropped 7.3% YoY compared to the same period last year.

The prices of total exports of goods likewise slid 0.8% YoY in May. Double-digit declines were recorded for the total export volume to India (-37.7%) and the US (-11.8%). Total export volume to Japan (-1.0%) and the mainland of China (the Mainland) (-0.1%) also slipped. On the other hand, the total export volume to Taiwan jumped 16.7%.

Over the same period of comparison, the total export prices to Japan (-3.1%), the US (-2.3%), India (-2.2%) and Taiwan (-0.5%) fell, whilst the prices to the Mainland inched up 0.4% YoY.

Meanwhile, the volume of total imports of goods similarly crashed 11% YoY in May.Prices of imports dipped 0.7% YoY.

Double-digit declines were recorded for the import volume from Japan (-13.7%) and the Mainland (-13.1%), whilst the import volume from Singapore (2.4%), Taiwan (10.3%) and Korea (10.5%) rose.

Import prices from Singapore (-8.3%), Korea (-4.1%), Taiwan (-3.0%) and the Mainland (-0.8%) sank. On the other hand, the import prices from Japan increased by 1.7%.

As a result, the trade index, or the ratio of price index of total exports of goods to that of imports of goods, edged up 0.1% YoY in May, whereas it decreased by 0.2% in the first five months of 2020.