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Further to the external merchandise trade statistics in value terms for January 2009 released earlier on, the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) released today (March 19) the volume and price statistics of external merchandise trade for that month.
In January 2009, the volume of Hong Kongˇ¦s re-exports of goods fell significantly, by 22.6% over January 2008, while that of domestic exports dropped sharply, by 49.7%. Taken together, the volume of total exports of goods declined by 23.6%. Concurrently, the volume of imports of goods decreased by 27.2%.
Comparing the three months ending January 2009 with the three months ending January 2008, the volume of Hong Kongˇ¦s re-exports of goods decreased by 13.4%, while that of domestic exports dropped sharply, by 40.3%. Taken together, the volume of total exports of goods decreased by 14.5%. Concurrently, the volume of imports of goods decreased by 17.9%.
Comparing the three-month period ending January 2009 with the preceding three months on a seasonally adjusted basis, the volume of total exports of goods decreased by 12.8%. Within this total, the volume of re-exports fell by 12.6%, while that of domestic exports decreased by 16.9%. Concurrently, the volume of imports of goods decreased by 14.7%.
Changes in volume of external merchandise trade are derived from changes in external merchandise trade value with the effect of price changes discounted.
Comparing January 2009 with January 2008, the prices of re-exports of goods increased by 3.0%, while those of domestic exports increased by 3.5%. Taken together, the prices of total exports of goods increased by 3.0%. Concurrently, the prices of imports of goods increased by 1.8%.
Price changes in external merchandise trade are reflected by changes in unit value indices of external merchandise trade which are compiled based on average unit values or, for certain commodities, specific price data.
The terms of trade index is derived from the ratio of price index of total exports of goods to that of imports of goods. Compared with the same period in 2008, the index increased by 1.3% in January 2009.
Changes in the unit value and volume of total exports of goods by main destination are shown in Table 1.
Comparing January 2009 with January 2008, the total export volume to the mainland of China (the Mainland) decreased significantly, by 32.3%. Concurrently, the total export volume to the United Kingdom, the USA and Japan decreased by 12.5%, 11.7% and 3.4% respectively. On the other hand, the total export volume to Germany increased by 3.6%.
Over the same period of comparison, the total export prices to all main destinations increased: the USA (+7.1%), Germany (+5.9%), the United Kingdom (+5.7%), Japan (+5.6%) and the Mainland (+1.0%).
Changes in the unit value and volume of imports of goods by main supplier are shown in Table 2.
In January 2009, the import volume from Taiwan and Japan dropped sharply, by 49.2% and 46.0% respectively, over January 2008. Double-digit decreases were also recorded for the import volume from Singapore (-35.2%), the Mainland (-23.3%) and the USA (-12.1%) over the same period of comparison.
Comparing January 2009 with January 2008, the import prices from Taiwan, the Mainland, Japan and the USA increased by 7.9%, 3.5%, 2.3% and 0.9% respectively. On the other hand, the import prices from Singapore decreased by 5.5%.
Further information
Details of the above statistics are published in the January 2009 issue of the "Hong Kong Merchandise Trade Index Numbers". The C&SD has recently conducted a review on the printing of statistical publications and has decided that the print version of the publication will no longer be produced starting from this edition. Nevertheless, the publication is still available for downloading free of charge from the website of the C&SD (http://www.censtatd.gov.hk/products_and_services/products/publications/statistical_report/external_trade/index.jsp).
Enquiries on merchandise trade indices may be directed to Trade Analysis Section of the C&SD (Tel.: 2582 4918).
Ends/Thursday, March 19, 2009
Issued at HKT 16:30
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