Hong Kong's exports in October fell 13.1 percent year on year to 240.8 billion HK dollars (31.1 billion U.S. dollars), compared with a decline of 8.6 percent in September, statistical authorities said Thursday.

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government said the larger year-on-year decline in exports was due to the high base in October last year when many traders reportedly advanced their shipments at the onset of the financial crisis.

"On a seasonally adjusted basis, merchandise exports actually improved modestly in recent months," the HKSAR government said in a statement, quoting a spokesman.

Imports were down 10.7 percent at 259.9 billion HK dollars (33.6 billion U.S. dollars), compared with a year-on-year decrease of 3.1 percent in September, according to statistics releases by the Census and Statistics Department of the HKSAR government.

For the first ten months as a whole, exports of goods dropped by 15.8 percent year on year.

Exports to Asia as a whole went down by 8.7 percent in October, with substantial decreases recorded for major destination markets such as Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Japan, the Chinese mainland and South Korea. Significant decreases were also recorded in exports to the United Kingdom, the United States and Germany.

Increases were registered in exports to some major destinations, in particular Taiwan as well as India and Australia.

The external environment, while still subject to considerable uncertainties, has been improving gradually, the HKSAR government spokesman said, adding that this should render support to Hong Kong's external trade if the trend continued.