Upward trend: Hong Kong's exports to the Mainland and other Asian economies continue to grow, underpinned by the Mainland's buoyant exports and active intra-regional trade.

The value of total goods exports in September rose 4.7% over the same month last year, to $220.1 billion, the Census & Statistics Department says.

Within this total, the value of re-exports grew 6.8% to $209.1 billion, while the value of domestic exports fell 23.7% to $10.9 billion. The value of goods imports rose 8.2% to $231.8 billion. The month also saw a $11.7 billion visible trade deficit, equivalent to 5.1% of the value of goods imports.

The year-on-year growth pace in September was not as fast as in the preceding two months, mainly reflecting the higher base of comparison in the same period last year.  Exports to the Mainland and many other Asian economies continued to grow noticeably, underpinned by the Mainland's buoyant exports and the generally active intra-regional trade.

Near-term outlook

The near-term outlook will depend much on the pace of the slow-down in US economic growth in the coming quarters. The developments in the Mainland economy as well as the directions of interest rate movements in the US, the euro zone and Japan are also factors to watch.

Increases were registered in the values of re-exports of electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances, and their electrical parts (up 32.8%) and clothing (21.7%). However, the re-export value of office machines and automatic data processing machines fell 13.7%.

On the value of domestic exports, decreases were seen in clothing (down 42.1%) and electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances, and their electrical parts (35.9%). However, the domestic export value of office machines and automatic data processing machines went up 9.1%.

Import value up

The month also saw increases in the values of imports of many principal commodity divisions. The import value of electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances, and their electrical parts surged 26.3%. This was followed by 4.9% growth in the import value of miscellaneous manufactured articles. However, the import value of office machines and automatic data processing machines fell 7.6%.

For the first nine months of this year, the value of total goods exports rose 8.5% over the same period last year, with the value of re-exports up 8.2% and the value of domestic exports up 13.4%. The value of goods imports also surged 10.7%. A $106.4 billion visible trade deficit, equivalent to 5.6% of the value of goods imports, was recorded.

Comparing this year's third quarter with the second, the value of total goods exports rose 6.6%. The value of re-exports rose 7.6%, the value of domestic exports fell 8.8%, and the value of goods imports grew 5.2%.