The value of Hong Kong's total exports of goods dropped by 16.2 percent year-on-year, with the September exports falling 8.6 percent from a year earlier, said Hong Kong's Census and Statistics Department (CSD).

As shown in the external merchandise trade statistics for September 2009 released by the CSD, for the first nine months of 2009 as a whole, the value of total exports of goods dropped by 16. 2 percent over the same period in 2008. Within this total, the value of re-exports decreased by 15.3 percent, while the value of domestic exports decreased by 40.8 percent.

Concurrently, the value of imports of goods decreased by 15.7 percent. A visible trade deficit of 150.3 billion Hong Kong dollars, equivalent to 7.8 percent of the value of imports of goods, was recorded in the first nine months of 2009.

In September 2009, the value of total exports of goods comprising re-exports and domestic exports decreased by 8.6 percent over a year earlier to 225.9 billion HKD, after a year-on-year decrease of 13.9 percent in August 2009. Within this total, the value of re-exports decreased by 7.8 percent to 220.8 billion HKD in September 2009, while the value of domestic exports decreased by 35 percent to 5.1 billion HKD.

A government spokesman says in a statement that the year-on- year decline in merchandise exports narrowed distinctly in September, largely supported by the rebound in economic activity in Asia. Exports to the Chinese mainland and some Asian economies showed positive growth in the month.

However, the spokesman notes that import demand of the advanced economies remains weak and will be the major source of uncertainty going forward.