Philippine imports dipped 3.2% to $5.134 billion in January from $5.302 billion year-on-year, according to the National Statistics Office.
But compared to December 2011’s $4.633 billion, the January figure is higher by 10.8%.
Accounting for 26.2% of the aggregate import bill, January payments for electronic products amounted to $1.344 billion, up 26.9% over last year’s $1.839 billion.
Imports of mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials represented 25.7% of the total or $1.321 billion from $909.02 million. This commodity grouping posted the highest positive annual growth rate of 45.3% among the top 10 imports for January.
Transport equipment accounted for 5.8% of the aggregate at $296.97 million.
China emerged as the country’s top source of imports for January with a 10.4% share of the total import bill or $535.63 million, up 13.9% from the $470.40 million recorded in January 2011.
Japan was in second place with a 10.1% share or $518.99 million, down 7.4% from $560.54 million.
In third spot was the US with a 9% share at $462.82 million, a 20.7% slide from $583.92 million.
Other major import sources in January were Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Malaysia.
