The Philippines’ exports in December last year reached 4.6 billionUSD, a year-on-year increase of 15.8 percent and over 7 percent morethan the previous month, according to the country’s StatisticsAuthority.

The December figures showed a continued upwardtrend for the 7th consecutive month, making the country the top exportperformer in selected economies in East and Southeast Asia.

ThePhilippines outshone Vietnam (12.6 percent), Indonesia (8.5 percent),Malaysia (7.6 percent), the Republic of Korea (7.0 percent), Singapore(5.6 percent), China (4.3 percent) and Thailand (1.9 percent). It alsooutperformed other economies in the region which posted negative exportgrowth, such as Taiwan (-1.9 percent), Hong Kong (-3.0 percent) andJapan (-6.2 percent).

The positive export performance of thePhilippines – and even those of the majority of trade-orientatedeconomies in East and Southeast Asia – reflected the recovery in majoreconomies such as the US, EU and Japan, said Arsenio Balisacan, who isalso head of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).

He added that the export growth resulted from the robust outward salesof manufactured goods, most notably electronics. Manufactured goodsexpanded by 20.8 percent year on year.

Japan remained the topdestination for Philippine exports in the month, accounting for 23percent of the country’s total overseas sales, with a total value of1.06 billion USD, up 48.1 percent compared to the same period in 2012.

Overall, the Philippines’ exports reached 54 billion USD, a year-on-year increase of 3.6 percent.-VNA