The country’s domestic trade, both in volume and value, declined in the third quarter of 2020, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Friday.
Data from the statistics agency showed that domestic trade volume from July to September slipped to 2.29 million tons, down 61.6 percent from 5.98 million tons in the same quarter a year earlier.
“Almost all (99.95 percent) of the commodities were traded through water (coastwise). On the other hand, the total quantity of commodities traded through air merely made up 0.05 percent of the total,” it said.
Among commodities, beverages and tobacco had the most in terms of quantity with 0.56 million tons, representing a 24.2-percent share to the total.
Region 10 (Northern Mindanao) recorded the highest quantity of traded commodities — 1.14 million tons or 49.7 percent of the total. Region 5 (Bicol) followed with 0.55 million tons (23.9 percent) and Region 8 (Eastern Visayas) with 0.26 million tons (11.3 percent).
Meanwhile, the total value of domestic trade in the quarter reached P91.19 billion, a 60.1-percent reduction from P228.34 billion year-on-year.
Machinery and transport equipment led in terms of value with P32.94 billion, representing a 36.1-percent share to the total. These are followed by manufactured goods classified chiefly by material and food and live animals, valued at P28.73 billion (31.5 percent) and P12.33 billion (13.5 percent), respectively.
Northern Mindanao ranked first with a value of P44.64 billion, or 48.9 percent of the total. Eastern Visayas and Bicol came next with P24.68 billion (27.1 percent) and P8.68 billion (9.5 percent), respectively.
Northern Mindanao also registered the highest inflow value at P30.37 billion (33.3 percent).
“Inflow refers to the total value of commodities that comes in to the specified region or province,” the PSA explained.
Region 7 (Central Visayas) and Eastern Visayas came next with inflow values of P18.38 billion (20.1 percent) and P11.84 billion (13 percent), respectively.
Region 13 (Caraga) had the lowest inflow value of P6.16 million.