Apparel, pharma, electronics lead industrial exports in Q1

The latest Industrial Exports Survey for the first quarter of 2025 reveals a cautious outlook among manufacturers about export prospects in the coming six months, according to the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) report released Friday.

While key export sectors remain active, concerns over orders and competitive pressures weigh heavily on industry sentiment.

The DSEC report highlights pharmaceutical products, electronic products and electrical appliances, alcoholic beverages and tobacco, garments, and other food products as the major exports in the first quarter of 2025.

In May, total merchandise exports rose 2.3% year over year to MOP1.06 billion. Imports fell 4.5% to MOP10.05 billion, resulting in a trade deficit of MOP9 billion for the month.

From January to May, exports increased by 2.3% to MOP5.67 billion, while imports dropped by 5.5% to MOP50.69 billion.

In the first quarter of 2025, manufacturers reported an average of three months of confirmed orders on hand, a slight decline of 0.4 months from the previous quarter.

The wearing apparel sector led with 4.9 months of orders, followed by pharmaceuticals at 4.4 months and electronics at 3.4 months. Other non-textile products held only one month of orders.

The Composite Index of Quarterly Orders by Market showed that the Asia-Pacific region (excluding mainland China, Hong Kong, and Japan) had the strongest growth, increasing by 25.6%. In contrast, exports to the United States faced a much weaker outlook, with the index dropping by 43.3%.

According to DSEC’s Q1 data, optimism about export prospects for the next six months increased slightly, with 26.9% of manufacturers feeling positive – up from 23%. However, pessimism grew sharply.

The percentage of manufacturers with a negative outlook rose by 29.2 percentage points, reaching 52.3%. At the same time, those expecting no major change in exports dropped significantly, falling from 53.9% last quarter to just 20.8%, a decrease of 33.1 percentage points.