Hong Kong’s volume of total exports of goods decreased by 0.6% year-on-year in October, as re-exports declined by 0.6%, while domestic exports increased by 0.8%, the Census & Statistics Department said. Meanwhile, the volume of imports of goods increased by 1.5%.
Total exports of commodities decreased by 0.3% in the first 10 months of 2016 compared to the same period in 2015. Of this total the volume of re-exports slightly decreased by 0.2%, while that of domestic exports slipped by 8.1%. Concurrently, the volume of imports of goods decreased by 0.6%.
Comparing the three-month period ending October 2016 with the preceding three months on a seasonally adjusted basis, the volume of overall exports rose by 1.8%.
As for the prices of total exports, these went down by 1.3%, and the prices of imports of goods also fell by 0.8%. Re-exports of goods saw prices dip by 1.3% year-on-year, while those of domestic exports marginally improved by 0.1%.
GNI and GDP
As this developed, the department said the territory’s gross national income (GNI) rose 5.1% year-on-year to HKD650.5 billion (US$83.7 billion) in the third quarter of this year, while gross domestic product (GDP) grew 3.4% to HKD635.2 billion.
The city’s GNI was larger than its GDP by $15.3 billion, representing a net external primary income inflow of the same amount, and equivalent to 2.4% of GDP in that quarter.
After netting out the effect of price changes, Hong Kong’s GNI increased 3.3% in real terms compared to a year earlier, while the corresponding GDP grew 1.9%.
Total primary income inflow into Hong Kong—estimated at HKD317.4 billion and equivalent to 50% of GDP—was up 5.3% compared to the previous year.
Total primary income outflow—estimated at HKD302.1 billion and equivalent to 47.6% of GDP—increased 1.8% year-on-year.
Taking the inflow and outflow together, a net external primary income inflow of $15.3 billion was recorded in the third quarter.
Photo: Buonasera
