Export figures for July fell across the board

Recently, due to the sluggish external demand, continued sluggish and other factors, the world's import and export trade is not ideal. The latest data show that exports of most countries, including Singapore, Japan, India, Indonesia, Vietnam, South Korea, Brazil, Chile and so on, showed a downward trend in July. It is difficult to quickly reverse the slump in global trade in the short term, and the decline in exports may have a lasting impact on economic growth.

But Turkey, Germany, Uzbekistan and other countries bucked the trend, with exports rising amid recession expectations and shrinking global trade.

Exports of many countries around the world have been declining

Singapore: Exports fell 20.2 per cent in July

Singapore's non-oil domestic exports fell 20.2% yoY in July (the same below), more than market expectations of a 14.4% decline, the 10th consecutive month of decline, and the decline was larger than the 15.6% decline in June, mainly due to lower exports of electronic and non-electronic products.

On a monthly basis, seasonally adjusted non-oil domestic exports fell 3.4 per cent, against market expectations of a 1 per cent rise and reversing a 5.2 per cent rise in June. Exports of electronics extended their decline to 26.1 per cent in July, after falling 16 per cent in June.

Japan: First decline in exports since 2021

Exports fell 0.3% in July, the first pullback since February 2021, as a sharp drop in shipments of chip-making equipment and parts more than offset rising demand for vehicles, the Finance Ministry reported on Thursday (Aug 17th).

By destination, exports to China, Japan's top trading partner, fell 13.4 per cent in July, following a 10.9 per cent drop in June, due to lower shipments of cars, stainless steel and chips.

Also, imports fell for the fourth straight month, slipping 13.5% from a year earlier, the steepest decline since September 2020, due to a slowdown in commodity prices.

India: Exports fell 16% in July

India's exports of goods fell 16% to a nine-month low of $32.25 billion in July due to weak demand from major trading partners such as China, the European Union and the U.S., according to government data.

Imports of goods also fell 17% to $52.92 billion in July. The decrease was mainly driven by lower imports of petroleum, coal, organic chemicals, silver and other commodities. Lower imports of petroleum products can be attributed to lower prices.

The goods trade deficit widened to $20.67 billion in July. In June, the trade gap narrowed to $20.13 billion from $22.1 billion in May. But on a year-over-year basis, the trade gap fell 18.7% from $25.43 billion a year earlier.

Indonesia: Exports fell 18.03% in July

Indonesia's exports fell 18.03% to $20.88 billion in July, roughly in line with a survey forecast of an 18.30% drop, due to lower prices for key commodities such as coal and palm oil, statistics agency data showed on Tuesday.

Imports fell 8.32 per cent to $19.57 billion, compared with the 15.5 per cent drop forecast by economists in the survey. Indonesia's trade surplus narrowed more than expected to $1.31bn in July.

Vietnam: Exports fell 3.5% in July

Vietnam's exports fell for the fifth straight month in July, the longest decline in 14 years, and the export-dependent economy may struggle to meet its 6.5% growth target this year, Bloomberg reported.

Vietnam's exports contracted 3.5 per cent in July and fell 10.6 per cent in the first seven months of 2023 to USD 194.73 billion, while imports dropped 17.1 per cent to USD 179.5 billion, data released by the country's statistics agency showed. Exports of smartphones, Vietnam's largest export earter, fell 18.3% to $27.8 billion in the January-July period of 2023.

South Korea: Exports fell 16.5% in July

South Korea's exports fell 16.5% in July to $50.33 billion, the 10th straight month of decline and the steepest decline since May 2020, according to data released by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on August 1, local time, Yonhap reported. South Korea's imports fell 25.4% to $48.71 billion in July, resulting in a trade surplus of $1.63 billion for the month, the data showed.

South Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said the July drop in exports was due to continued sluggish semiconductor demand, weaker oil prices and a high base from last year. Exports of chips, South Korea's main export, fell 34% in July, marking the 12th straight month of negative growth, the data showed. In the first half of this year, Korea's semiconductor exports fell 36.8 percent to $43.93 billion.

Brazil: Exports fell 2.6% in July

Brazil's Ministry of Development, Industry, Foreign Trade and Services (MDIC) announced a record trade surplus of $9.035 billion in July this year, up 68.7 percent compared to the same month last year, South American newspaper reported. But in terms of monthly trade data, both imports and exports fell in July.

Exports from Brazil totaled $29.062 billion, down 2.6 percent. Imports for the month fell 18.2 percent to $20.27 billion. In terms of export trade, the decrease in revenue from commodity sales was the main reason for the decline in export volume.

Chile: Exports fell 7.6% in July

According to the report of the Central Bank of Chile, on a FOB basis, Chile's exports in July totaled 7.394 billion US dollars, down 7.6%, the fourth consecutive month of decline, while imports totaled 6.58 billion US dollars, down 17%, the tenth consecutive month of decline.

The trade surplus of US $814 million, down significantly from US $1.574 billion in the previous month, fell to the lowest since November 2022, amid continued weakness in foreign trade.

A few countries, such as Germany, saw year-on-year increases in foreign trade

Turkey: Exports rose 8.4% in July

Turkey's exports rose 8.4% to $200.93 billion in July, the highest on record, Trade Minister Mehmet Boulat announced. Despite the impact of shrinking global production and trade and earthquake disasters, Turkey's exports in the first seven months of 2023 reached $143.435 billion, close to the previous year's level. In particular, he noted that the proportion of high-tech exports in the manufacturing sector increased from 36.9 percent in 2022 to 40.8 percent in the first seven months of this year. Imports to Turkey rose 11.1 percent to USD 32.47 billion in July and totaled USD 217.5 billion in the first seven months of the year, up 5.1 percent.

Germany: Exports rose 3.5% in the first half

According to the commodity import and export data published by the Statistisches Bundesamt on August 3, the total value of German exports of goods in the first half of 2023 was 791.4 billion euros, up 3.5%, on a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis; The total value of imported goods was EUR 696.4 billion, down 4.6 percent; The goods trade surplus was 95 billion euros, up 1.46 times.

Uzbekistan: Exports rose 19.4 percent in the first half of the year

According to the Statistics Agency of the President of Uzbekistan, in the first half of 2023, the total foreign trade volume of Uzbekistan was about 29.2 billion US dollars, up 19.4%. Among them, exports were about 12.14 billion US dollars, up 23.0%, imports were about 17.03 billion US dollars, up 17.0%, and the trade deficit was about 4.89 billion US dollars. China remains Ukraine's largest trading partner, as well as its largest source of imports and second largest export destination (after Russia).

Georgia: Exports rose 20.1 percent in the first half of the year

According to the data of the National Bureau of Statistics of Georgia, from January to June 2023, Georgia's foreign trade volume reached 10.26 billion US dollars, up 20.1%. Among them, Georgia's export value was 3.05 billion US dollars, up 19.2%; Imports reached US $7.21 billion, up 20.4 percent.