National Statistics Office (NSO) administrator Carmelita Ericta said total imports grew by 27.7 percent to $ 4.987 billion from $ 3.904 billion in January 2007.

Exports grew by 6.1 percent to $ 4.231 billion in January this year from $ 3.987 billion in January 2007.

Total external trade in goods for January 2008 rose by 16.8 percent to $ 9.217 billion from $ 7.891 billion during the same month in 2007.

The import bill for electronic products which accounted for 46.3 percent of total imports, rose by 22.8 percent to $ 2.3 billion compared to $ 1.8 billion last year.

Compared to December 2007 level, imports in January 2008 grew by 9.4 percent from $ 2.109 billion.

Among the major groups of electronic products, semiconductor had the biggest share of 38.1 percent, recording an increase of 27.8 percent to $ 1.898 billion from $ 1.485 billion in January 2007.

Imports of mineral fuels, lubricants and related Materials in January 2008 ranked second with a 20.5 percent share, up by 110.6 percent to $ 1.023 billion from the last year’s figure of $ 485.64 million.

Industrial machinery and equipment, contributing 3.3 percent to the total bill, was the country’s third top import for the month with payments placed at $ 165.33 million from last year’s $ 154.68 million, an increase of 6.9 percent.

Transport equipment, accounting for a 2.8 percent of the total imports, ranked fourth as foreign bill amounted to $ 138.02 million or a year-on-year decline of 20.8 percent from $ 174.23 million last year.

Organic and inorganic chemicals, ranked fifth comprising 2.1 percent of the total imports; registered $ 106.72 million worth of imports or an increase of 33.9 percent from its year ago level of $ 79.70 million.

Iron and steel recorded a share of 2.1 percent at $ 106.44 million worth of imports, which grew by 36.9 percent from its year ago level of $ 77.78 million.

The top ten imports for January 2008 were plastics with $ 96.17 million; telecommunication equipment and electrical machinery, $ 88.50 million; textile yarn and fabrics, $ 75.49 million; and dairy products, $ 71.85 million.

Total payment for the country’s top ten imports for January 2008 reached $ 4.179 billion or 83.8 percent of the total bill.