An article published in the May 23, 2018 issue of Business World entitled “Which Philippine Regions Import/Export More?” shows the trade balance of the country’s different regions for the period Q4 2016 and Q4 2017. It also states that the domestic trade report, based on cargo manifests and airway bills, showed at least 99% of commodities in value passed through the country’s sea ports.
In 2017, the region with highest dependence on products shipped from other regions is Region V (Bicol) with -25,323,116 (in thousand pesos) trade balance. On the other hand, Region VIII (Eastern Visayas) has the highest trade balance with 16,907,480 (in thousand pesos), having sold more than it bought locally. Other regions with positive trade balances in 2017 are Region III Central Luzon, Region VII Central Visayas, Region X Northern Mindanao, NCR Metro Manila, Region XI Davao Region, Region XII SOCCSKSARGEN and ARMM. No data were available for Cordillera Administrative Region. (Source: Philippine Statistics Authority and BusinessWorld)
