Hong Kong's total exports volume increased by 17.7 percent year on year in the first quarter in 2011, said the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) of the city government on Thursday.

During the first three months, the volume of Hong Kong's re- exports of goods increased by 18.2 percent from a year ago, whereas that of domestic exports decreased by 4.1 percent, said the department in a statement released in the day.

Concurrently, the volume of imports of goods increased by 12.9 percent.

Compared with the fourth quarter in 2010, the volume of total exports of goods increased by 16.3 percent.

The C&SD also reported that the prices of exports in the first quarter jumped by 7.6 percent from that of 2010, with prices of re- exports up 7.6 percent and domestic exports up 6.7 percent. The prices of imports of goods increased by 8.9 percent.