The value of Hong Kong’s total goods exports increased to $417 billion in July, up 26.9% on the same month last year, the Census & Statistics Department announced today.

The value of imports of goods jumped 26.1% to $451.9 billion for the same period.

A trade deficit of $35 billion, or 7.7% of the value of imports, was recorded for the month.

Comparing the three-month period ending July with the preceding three months on a seasonally adjusted basis, the value of exports dropped 2%, while that of imports rose 2.5%.

The Government said the value of merchandise exports expanded notably in July over a year earlier.

Exports to the Mainland, the US and the European Union all increased markedly, while those to many other Asian markets also saw visible expansion.

The total merchandise trade value amounted to $5.6168 trillion for the first seven months of the year, surpassing the high in the same period in 2018 by 13.1%, it added.

Looking ahead, the on-going global economic recovery should remain supportive to Hong Kong’s export performance in the near term.

However, the resurgence of the COVID-19 epidemic in many economies due to the spread of the Delta variant, China-US relations and geopolitical tensions still warrant attention, the Government noted.