Hong Kong's total exports value in March fell 7% year-on-year while the value of imports dropped 5.8%, the Census & Statistics Department announced today.
Total goods exports value decreased to $275.4 billion from a year earlier, after a year-on-year decrease of 10.4% in February.
Within this total, the value of re-exports decreased 7% to $271.8 billion, while domestic exports decreased 10.7% to $3.6 billion. The value of goods imports fell 5.8% to $322.4 billion, after a year-on-year decrease of 10.1% in February.
A visible trade deficit of $47 billion, equivalent to 14.6% of goods imports value was recorded in March.
The department said merchandise exports remained sluggish in March, reflecting the slack in global demand and its dampening effect on the regional trade flows. Most of the major markets still showed subpar performance.
It said Hong Kong's export performance is likely to remain constrained by the slow-growing global economy in the near term. Also, uncertainties arising from the monetary policy normalisation in the US, diverging monetary policies among major central banks and heightened geopolitical tensions in different parts of the world could add further headwinds. The Government will monitor the situation closely.
