Trade volume declines in January

Exports to Vietnam surged by 65.9%.

Hong Kong’s external merchandise trade volume declined in January 2025, with total exports and imports falling by 2.0% and 1.7% year-on-year, respectively, according to the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD).

Given the timing of the Lunar New Year holidays, analysts suggested reviewing trade figures for both January and February to gain a clearer year-on-year comparison.

For the three-month period ending January 2025, total exports decreased 0.1%, whilst imports declined 0.8% compared to the same period a year ago. However, on a seasonally adjusted basis, exports and imports grew by 2.7% and 0.3%, respectively, over the preceding three months.

Export volume to India saw the sharpest decline (-22.1%), followed by mainland China (-3.6%) and Taiwan (-2.2%). In contrast, exports to the U.S. surged by 12.2%, whilst Vietnam recorded a significant 65.9% increase.

On the import side, shipments from Korea (-25.3%) and mainland China (-9.0%) declined, whilst imports from Malaysia (44.8%), Taiwan (32.1%), and Singapore (2.9%) rose.

Trade prices increased across the board, with both export and import prices rising 2.0% year-on-year. Notably, export prices to Vietnam and Taiwan rose by 4.0%, whilst prices to India dropped 1.2%. Import prices from all key suppliers, including Korea (8.4%) and Malaysia (5.3%), saw gains.

The terms of trade index, which measures export prices relative to import prices, remained stable compared to January 2024.