External merchandise trade statistics for February 2020

 

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March 26, 2020 - The Census and Statistics Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government released today the external merchandise trade statistics for February 2020.

In February 2020, the value of Hong Kong’s total exports of goods increased by 4.3%, whereas the value of imports of goods decreased by 0.1% over a year earlier.

As the trade flows in January and February of each year tend to show considerable volatilities due to difference in timing of the Lunar New Year holidays, it is useful to analyze the trade figures for these two months taken together.

Taking January and February as a whole to neutralize the distortion caused by the difference in timing of the Lunar New Year holidays, the value of total exports of goods decreased by 12.0% over the same period in 2019. Concurrently, the value of imports of goods decreased by 9.3%. A visible trade deficit of HK$69.1 billion (US$8.8 billion), equivalent to 12.0% of the value of imports of goods, was recorded in the first two months of 2020.

In February 2020, the value of total exports of goods increased by 4.3% over a year earlier to HK$238.6 billion (US$30.5 billion), after a year-on-year decrease of 22.7% in January 2020. Concurrently, the value of imports of goods decreased by 0.1% over a year earlier to HK$277.1 billion (US$35.5 billion) in February 2020, after a year-on-year decrease of 16.4% in January 2020. A visible trade deficit of HK$38.6 billion (US$4.9 billion), equivalent to 13.9% of the value of imports of goods, was recorded in February 2020.
 
Comparing the three-month period ending February 2020 with the preceding three months on a seasonally adjusted basis, the value of total exports of goods decreased by 7.8%. Meanwhile, the value of imports of goods decreased by 5.8%.

Comparing February 2020 with February 2019, total exports to Asia as a whole grew by 11.2%. Apart from destinations in Asia, decreases were registered in the values of total exports to some major destinations in other regions, in particular the United Kingdom (‑34.9%), Germany (-26.3%) and the USA (-16.5%).

Over the same period of comparison, decreases were registered in the values of imports from some major suppliers, in particular the Mainland (-8.6%), the USA (-7.8%) and the United Kingdom (-3.5%). Concurrently, increases were recorded in the values of imports from Vietnam (+68.5%), Taiwan (+39.6%) and Korea (+31.6%).

For the first two months of 2020 as a whole, year-on-year decreases were registered in the values of total exports to some major destinations, in particular the USA (-26.4%), Japan (-24.2%), Germany (-22.3%) and Singapore (-16.0%). The value of total exports to the Mainland also decreased by 7.9%.  However, year-on-year increases were registered in the values of total exports to the United Arab Emirates (+4.6%), India (+4.3%) and Vietnam (+4.2%).

Over the same period of comparison, year-on-year decreases were registered in the values of imports from some major suppliers, in particular the Mainland (-18.8%), the USA (‑11.7%), Thailand (-10.1%) and Malaysia (‑0.2%). However, year-on-year increases were registered in the values of imports from Vietnam (+42.8%), Korea (+20.6%) and Taiwan (+18.5%).

A Government spokesman said that merchandise exports turned to a moderate year-on-year increase in February mainly due to the distortions from the timing of the Lunar New Year. Taking the first two months of 2020 together, the fall in merchandise exports widened to 12.0% in value terms, reflecting the serious disruptions to regional trading and production activities caused by the COVID-19 outbreak.

The external trading environment has turned even more austere lately, as demand in most major export markets plunged amid the COVID-19 pandemic. As such, Hong Kong’s merchandise export performance will likely remain weak in the near term. The Government will continue to monitor the situation closely.