Exports value falls 36.7% YoY to $290.9b in January 2023

The slackened external environment contributed to the fall.

The value of goods exports fell further in January 2023, declining 36.7% YoY to $290.9b

The  Census & Statistics Department (C&SD) attributed the decrease in export value to the “ “slackened external environment.”

“The performance could also be affected by the early arrival of the Lunar New Year this year. Exports to all major markets fell by varying degrees,” C&SD added. 

By major commodity, exports value dropped $78.7b or 37.7% for "electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances, and electrical parts thereof”; by $31.8b or -52.7% for "office machines and automatic data processing machines"; by $19.2b or -32.2% for "telecommunications and sound recording and reproducing apparatus and equipment"; by $5.9b or -24.4% for miscellaneous manufactured articles.

Data from the C&SD also showed that total exports to Asia dropped 41.4% YoY.

Apart from destinations in Asia, decreases were registered in the values of total exports to some major destinations in other regions, in particular, Germany (-40.0%), the USA (-28.8%) and the United Kingdom (-27.0%).

The value of imports of goods likewise dipped in January, declining 30.2% YoY to $316.3b.

With a decline in exports and imports, the trade deficit clocked in at $25.4b. The trade deficit is equivalent to 8.0% of the value of imports.

C&SD said, “slower global economic growth will continue to pose severe challenges to Hong Kong's export performance in the near term.”

“The expected faster growth of the Mainland economy and the lifting of cross-boundary truck movement restrictions between Hong Kong and the Mainland should alleviate part of the pressure,” it added.