MANILA, Philippines — The country’s agricultural trade deficit in March widened by two percent year-on-year to nearly $890 million, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.
The PSA said agricultural trade deficit in March hit $889.15 million, about two percent higher than the $872.13 million recorded in the same month last year.
The country’s total agricultural trade during the reference period hit $2.32 billion, up by 10.6 percent from the $2.1 billion recorded a year ago, the PSA said.
The PSA noted that 69.2 percent of the agricultural trade were imports while the remaining 30.8 percent were exports.
The country’s agricultural exports rose by 16.7 percent to $715.76 million from $613.26 million.
Agricultural imports, meanwhile, increased by eight percent to $1.6 billion from $1.49 billion.
The PSA said the top 10 commodity groups exported in March accounted for 97 percent or about $694.22 million of the total agricultural export receipt.
“The combined agricultural export value of these top 10 commodity groups posted an annual increase of 17.8 percent during the month,” the PSA said.
The top 10 agricultural export product groupings were animal, vegetable or microbial fats and oils; edible fruit and nuts; preparations of vegetables, fruit, nuts; tobacco and manufactured tobacco substitutes; preparations of meat of fish; fish and crustaceans; preparations of cereals, flour; miscellaneous edible preparations; gums and resins; cocoa and cocoa preparations.
Meanwhile, the top 10 commodity groups imported in March accounted for 82.8 percent of the total agricultural import value, according to the PSA.
The combined agricultural import value of the top 10 commodity groups rose by 3.8 percent year-on-year to $1.33 billion from $1.28 billion, the PSA said.
“Among the major commodity groups, cereals accounted for the largest share worth $290.64 million or 18.1 percent of the total value of agricultural imports in March 2025,” the PSA said.
The top 10 imported commodity groups were cereals; miscellaneous edible preparations; animal, vegetable or microbial fats and oils; meat and edible meat offal; residues and waste from food industries; dairy produce, natural honey; beverages; preparations of cereals, flour; sugars and sugar confectionery and edible fruit and nuts, according to the PSA.