Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the value of total exports of goods amounted to MOP642 million in March 2009, down significantly by 51.9% year-on-year, with the value of domestic exports decreasing by 63.9% to MOP277 million and that of re-exports dropping by 35.8% to MOP366 million. The value of total imports of goods amounted to MOP2.73 billion, down by 28.0% year-on-year. A trade deficit of MOP2.09 billion was recorded for March 2009.

From January to March 2009, total exports of goods fell by 49.2% year-on-year to MOP2.03 billion, with the value of domestic exports and re-exports declining by 63.5% and 24.0% respectively. Meanwhile, total imports of goods slid by 20.9% to MOP8.21 billion, and the trade deficit for the first three months of 2009 narrowed by 3.2% to MOP6.18 billion. The exports/imports ratio went down by 13.8 percentage points year-on-year to 24.7%.

Analysed by the destinations of Macao’s exports, in the first three months of 2009, the value of merchandise exports to the USA, the EU and Mainland China decreased by 70.5%, 61.1% and 35.6% respectively year-on-year. The value of Textile & garment exports declined by 64.0% year-on-year to account for 42.1% of the total exports of goods; meanwhile, the value of Non-textile exports dropped by 27.6%, with exports of Articles of copper falling by 65.8%, but exports of Jewellery rising by 17.6%.

Regarding the country of origin of imported goods, the value of imports from Mainland China and Hong Kong dropped by 42.8% and 12.7% respectively year-on-year. The value of imports of all broad economic categories registered year-on-year decreases, of which Raw materials & semi-manufactures dropped by 41.9% and Fuels & lubricants fell by 28.9%; meanwhile, the value of imports of Consumer goods recorded a slower decrease of 6.7%, with that of Food and beverages rising by 10.2%.