Philippine imports climbed by 21.9% year-on-year to USD 13.4 billion in May 2026, following an upwardly revised 27.3% rise in the previous month.
The increase was largely driven by a 93.3% jump in electronic products, mainly semiconductor components (+125.8%), followed by electronic data processing (+43.8%) and communication/radar (+42.9%).
Inbound shipments also rose sharply for mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials (+35.6%) and telecommunication equipment and electrical machinery (+21.2%), partially offset by declines in transport equipment (-24.3%) and iron and steel (-14.5%).
Among the country’s largest trading partners, China remained the top supplier, accounting for 29.4% of total imports, with purchases rising 31.9%.
Arrivals also surged from South Korea (+153.9%), Malaysia (84.2%), and Singapore (+20.2%).
For the first five months of the year, total imports grew by 16.2% to USD 63.1 billion.