Macau’s balance of trade recorded a deficit of 77.91 billion patacas (US$9.738 billion) in 2018, a 20.6% increase compared with the value recorded in 2017, of 64.568 billion patacas, according to the Macau Statistics and Census Bureau.

The deficit recorded last year was due to exports of US$12.192 billion, a year-on-year increase of 8.1%, and imports of US$90.22 billion, an increase of 18.8% also on a year-on-year basis.

The value of goods exported to the Portuguese-speaking countries (25 million patacas) increased by 2904.2%, while goods exported to the countries in the “Belt and Road” initiative, with the exception of Greater China (346 million patacas) decreased by 3.2%, the Bureau said.

In 2018, Macau imported goods worth 31.52 billion patacas and 22.53 billion patacas, respectively, from Mainland China and the European Union, and the value of products imported from Portuguese-speaking countries (790 million patacas) and “Belt and Road” countries, with the exception of the Greater China region (7.86 billion patacas) grew 21.9% and 17.6%, respectively.

The total value of foreign trade in 2018 reached 102.30 billion patacas and increased by 17.4%, compared to 87.13 billion patacas in 2017. (macauhub)