Hong Kong's external merchandise trade statistics classified by country/territory and commodity for March 2003

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Content of press release

Further to the release of external merchandise trade statistics in aggregate terms for March 2003 earlier on, the Census and Statistics Department today (May 6) released detailed statistics on external merchandise trade with breakdown by country/territory and commodity for March 2003.

The value of Hong Kong's re-exports of goods to ten main destinations and their changes over time are shown in Table 1 (text version).

Comparing March 2003 with March 2002, the value of re-exports of goods to all major destinations showed increases of various magnitudes: Germany (+36.1%), Taiwan (+28.1%), the mainland of China (the Mainland) (+24.1%), the Netherlands (+20.0%), France (+17.3%), Japan (+12.4%), the United States of America (+9.9%), the United Kingdom (+9.0%), the Republic of Korea (+2.2%) and Singapore (+0.2%).

For the first quarter of 2003 as a whole, the value of re-exports of goods to all major destinations showed increases of various magnitudes: Taiwan (+33.5%), the Mainland (+31.5%), the Netherlands (+27.2%), Germany (+24.8%), Japan (+14.8%), the Republic of Korea (+11.9%), the United States of America (+9.2%), Singapore (+7.4%), the United Kingdom (+7.2%) and France (+6.5%).

Table 2 (text version) shows changes in the value of re-exports of ten principal commodity divisions.

Comparing the first quarter of 2003 with the same period in 2002, increases were registered in the value of re-exports of electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances, and electrical parts thereof (by $15.8 billion or 31.4%); telecommunications, sound recording and reproducing apparatus and equipment (by $12.5 billion or 37.1%); office machines and automatic data processing machines (by $4.7 billion or 13.0%); clothing (by $3.3 billion or 14.9%); photographic apparatus, equipment and supplies, optical goods, watches and clocks (by $3.2 billion or 23.9%); miscellaneous manufactured articles consisting mainly of baby carriages, toys, games and sporting goods (by $3.0 billion or 10.1%); and textiles (by $2.8 billion or 16.1%).

Changes in the value of domestic exports of goods to ten main destinations are shown in Table 3 (text version).

Comparing March 2003 with March 2002, decreases were recorded in the value of domestic exports of goods to the Netherlands (-38.3%), Taiwan (-23.1%), the Mainland (-23.0%), Japan (-21.5%) and Singapore (-20.2%).

Nevertheless, increases were registered in the value of domestic exports of goods to Canada (+32.4%), Germany (+25.9%), the United Kingdom (+21.5%), the Philippines (+17.9%) and the United States of America (+0.1%).

For the first quarter of 2003 as a whole, decreases were recorded in the value of domestic exports of goods to the Netherlands (-30.2%), Taiwan (-24.8%), the Mainland (-21.4%), Japan (-14.7%), Singapore (-10.5%) and the United States of America (-5.1%).

On the other hand, increases were registered in the value of domestic exports of goods to the United Kingdom (+10.4%), Germany (+9.0%), the Philippines (+7.0%) and Canada (+0.9%).

Table 4 (text version)shows changes in the value of domestic exports of ten principal commodity divisions.

Comparing the first quarter of 2003 with the same period in 2002, decreases were registered in the value of domestic exports of electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances, and electrical parts thereof (by $1.6 billion or 38.5%); photographic apparatus, equipment and supplies, optical goods, watches and clocks (by $442 million or 55.5%); professional, scientific and controlling instruments and apparatus (by $419 million or 56.8%); and office machines and automatic data processing machines (by $253 million or 17.8%).

Over the same period, increases were registered in the value of domestic exports of clothing (by $118 million or 1.0%); medicinal and pharmaceutical products (by $76 million or 30.2%); and metalliferous ores and metal scrap (by $69 million or 23.4%).

Changes in the value of imports of goods from ten main suppliers are shown in Table 5 (text version).

Comparing March 2003 with March 2002, the value of imports of goods from all major suppliers showed increases of various magnitudes: the Philippines (+70.7%), Singapore (+25.8%), Thailand (+24.8%), Japan (+22.7%), Germany (+19.6%), the Mainland (+13.3%), the Republic of Korea (+10.6%), Taiwan (+6.8%), Malaysia (+6.1%) and the United States of America (+1.6%).

For the first quarter of 2003 as a whole, the value of imports of goods from all major suppliers showed increases of various magnitudes: the Philippines (+53.3%), Germany (+34.9%), Singapore (+32.3%), Japan (+26.9%), Thailand (+25.9%), the Republic of Korea (+18.9%), the Mainland (+14.5%), Taiwan (+12.5%), Malaysia (+11.1%) and the United States of America (+6.0%).

Table 6 (text version) shows changes in the value of imports of ten principal commodity divisions.

Comparing the first quarter of 2003 with the same period in 2002, increases were registered in the value of imports of electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances, and electrical parts thereof (by $13.3 billion or 21.4%); telecommunications, sound recording and reproducing apparatus and equipment (by $8.8 billion or 23.7%); office machines and automatic data processing machines (by $6.2 billion or 18.0%); textiles (by $3.0 billion or 16.2%); plastics in primary forms (by $2.9 billion or 36.3%); photographic apparatus, equipment and supplies, optical goods, watches and clocks (by $2.2 billion or 18.5%); and miscellaneous manufactured articles consisting mainly of baby carriages, toys, games and sporting goods (by $2.0 billion or 8.8%).

Further information

All the merchandise trade statistics described here are measured at current prices and no account has been taken of changes in prices between the periods of comparison.

A separate analysis of the volume and price movements of external merchandise trade for March 2003 will be released in late May 2003.

Detailed merchandise trade statistics analysed by commodity and by country/territory are published in merchandise trade statistics reports.

The March 2003 issue of the "Hong Kong External Merchandise Trade" with detailed analyses on the performance of Hong Kong's external merchandise trade in March 2003 will be on sale at $55 per copy around 16 May 2003.

The above publication and other publications of the Census and Statistics Department can be purchased in person from : (i) Government Publications Centre, Ground Floor, Low Block, Queensway Government Offices, 66 Queensway, Hong Kong (Tel.: 2537 1910); or (ii) Publications Unit of the Census and Statistics Department, 19th Floor, Wanchai Tower, 12 Harbour Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong (Tel.: 2582 3025).

Internet users may purchase the publications online at the "Statistical Bookstore, Hong Kong" (Address: http://www.statisticalbookstore.gov.hk) with payment made instantly. Softcopies of the publications purchased are available for immediate downloading while hardcopies purchased will be delivered by mail. Subscription to regular publications and advance ordering of upcoming releases are also available. The Statistical Bookstore is hosted on the ESD portal (Address: http://www.esd.gov.hk) together with other public services.

A mail order form for ordering or arranging subscription to hardcopies of publications is available in most publications of the Census and Statistics Department. It may be completed and sent back together with a cheque or bank draft covering all necessary cost and postage. The order form is also available for downloading from the website of the Department (Address: http://www.info.gov.hk/censtatd/eng/service_desk/forms_index.html).

Enquiries on merchandise trade statistics may be directed to the Census and Statistics Department (Tel.: 2582 4915).

End/Tuesday, May 6, 2003

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