This aerial photo shows the container terminal at Tsing Yi in Hong Kong on Feb 28, 2022. (PHOTO / AFP)

HONG KONG - The volume of Hong Kong’s total goods exports decreased 18.3 percent year-on-year in May, according to data released by the city’s Census and Statistics Department on Monday.

The volume of goods imports for the month also dropped 19.2 percent compared to the same period last year. The prices of goods exports and imports both increase 3.2 percent year-on-year.

Comparing the first five months of the year with the same period in 2022, the volume of goods exports decreased by 19.5 percent, while that of goods imports dropped by 16.3 percent

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the volume of goods exports increased 1.5 percent in the three months ending in May compared with the previous rolling three-month period, while the volume of goods imports also rose by 0.8 percent.

Comparing the first five months of the year with the same period in 2022, the volume of goods exports decreased by 19.5 percent, while that of goods imports dropped by 16.3 percent.

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The prices of total exports of goods for the same period on the other hand went up 4.4 percent, while that of goods imports rose 3.8 percent.

The trade index, which measures the ratio of the price index of total exports of goods to that of imports of goods, remained virtually unchanged in May while it increased by 0.6 percent in the first five months of 2023.

In terms of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region's export performance by main destinations, the total export volume to the Chinese mainland fell by 19.4 percent year-on-year in May, while the volume to four other major destinations, namely India (-36.7 percent), Taiwan region (-25.7 percent), the United States (-21.1 percent), and Vietnam (-6.4 percent) also dropped from a year ago.

The total export prices to all major destinations increased at the same time: India (10.9 percent), Vietnam (5.0 percent), the USA (4.8 percent), the mainland (2.4 percent) and Taiwan region (0.6 percent).

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Regarding import volume by major suppliers, year-on-year declines were recorded in May from Singapore (-35.8 percent), Taiwan region (-24.2 percent), Japan (-15.7 percent), the mainland (-14.2 percent) and the US (-10.7 percent).

Over the same period of comparison, the import prices from all main suppliers increased: Taiwan region (6.6 percent), the mainland (5.1 percent), Japan (2.0 percent), the US (1.3 percent) and Singapore (1.3 percent).