- Total goods exports and imports rose by 32% and 24.4%, respectively, in Q1 2021 compared to Q1 2020
- Total goods exports and imports increased by 23.4% and 19.8%, respectively, in March 2021 year-on-year
- The sharp increase in goods export and import volumes was attributed to the significant improvement of the Asian economy, last year’s low base, rapid control of the epidemic, and a quick recovery of the Chinese economy
- Hong Kong’s imports and exports are seen to continue to expand by double digits in the next few months, driven by foreign trade
The volume of Hong Kong’s total goods exports and imports increased by 32% and 24.4%, respectively, in the first quarter of 2021 compared to the same period in 2020, according to data from the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD).
The territory’s total exports of goods and imports of goods in March increased by 23.4% and 19.8%, respectively, year-on-year, said the agency in a release May 13.
Comparing the first quarter of 2021 with the fourth quarter of 2020 on a seasonally adjusted basis, total exports of goods and imports of goods increased by 17.9% and 12.9%, respectively.
Economists said the sharp increase in both of Hong Kong’s goods export and import volumes was attributable to the significant improvement of the Asian economy, last year’s low base, rapid control of the epidemic, and a quick recovery of the economy in mainland China.
They expect Hong Kong’s imports and exports to continue to increase by double digits in the next few months, with economic growth in the first and second quarters to be mainly driven by foreign trade.
Meanwhile, the prices of total exports of goods and imports of goods from Hong Kong increased by 1.0% and 1.1% respectively, in the first quarter of 2021 compared to the same period in 2020.
The prices of total exports of goods and imports of goods increased by 2.4% and 1.8%, respectively, in March 2021 compared with March 2020.
Comparing March 2021 with March 2020, increases were recorded for the total export volume to Taiwan (41.0%), India (36.8%), China (26.7%), and the US (9.9%). On the other hand, the total export volume to Japan decreased by 17.2%.
The total export prices to Taiwan (6.5%), India (3.8%), China (3.7%) and Japan (2.4%) increased. On the other hand, the total export prices to the US decreased by 0.1%.
Double-digit increases were recorded in March 2021 year-on-year for the import volume from Singapore (40.7%), Taiwan (25.1%), China (21.4%), Japan (12.7%) and Korea (10.8%).
Over the same period of comparison, the import prices from Korea (9.9%), Taiwan (7.2%), Singapore (3.0%) and Japan (0.1%) increased. On the other hand, the import prices from China decreased by 0.7%.
Photo by Chester Ho on Unsplash
