The volume of total goods exports recorded a 7.6% year-on-year rise in September, the Census & Statistics Department says. 

The volume of re-exports and goods imports grew 8.5% and 9.3%, while the volume of domestic exports fell 9.9%.

Comparing the first three quarters of this year with last year's, the volume of total goods exports grew 8.9%. The volume of re-exports and goods imports rose 11% and 10.4%, while the volume of domestic exports dropped 24.4%.

Steady growth in export prices

Comparing the third quarter of 2007 with the preceding quarter, the volume of total goods exports rose 0.4%. Within this total, the volume of re-exports rose 0.9%, and the volume of domestic exports fell 9.8%. The volume of goods imports grew 0.7%.

The prices of total goods exports rose 2.3% in September over a year earlier. The prices of goods re-exports and domestic exports grew 2.4% and 0.9%. The prices of goods imports grew 2.2%.

For the first three quarters of 2007, the prices of total goods exports grew 2.2% over the same period last year. The prices of goods re-exports and domestic exports rose 2.3% and 0.6%. The prices of goods imports rose 2.1%.

Compared with the same periods last year, the trade index grew 0.1% both in September and in the first nine months of 2007.

US imports up 24.5%

In September, year-on-year increases were recorded in the total export volume to Germany (+18.2%) and the Mainland (+12.5%), while falls were recorded for the United States (-4.4%), Japan (-5.3%) and the United Kingdom (-10.6%).

Comparing September 2007 with September 2006, total export prices rose in the US (+3.4%), the Mainland (+2.8%), the UK (+2.6%) and Germany (+0.5%), while Japan experienced a fall of 0.1%.

In September, significant increases were recorded in the import volume from the US (+24.5%) and Singapore (+18.9%) over a year earlier. The import volume from Japan, the Mainland and Taiwan also rose 9.1%, 6.9% and 2.9%.

Import prices rose in Taiwan (+3.5%), Singapore (+3.5%), the Mainland (+2.1%) and Japan (+1.8%), while those from the US were unchanged.