THE country's trade deficit hit a five-month high in April as import growth markedly outpaced exports, preliminary Philippine Statistics Authority data showed on Tuesday.

At $4.76 billion, the shortfall rose from $3.44 billion in March but was narrower than the year-earlier $4.83 billion. It was the highest since the $4.77 trillion recorded in November last year.

Total trade in goods rose by 17.2 percent to $17.19 billion, from $14.66 billion a year earlier, as both exports and imports posted double-digit growth.

Exports surged by 26.4 percent year-on-year to $6.22 billion, bouncing back from the previous month's and April 2023's 17.7-percent and 20.3-percent drops.

Imports grew by 12.6 percent to $10.98 billion, rallying from March's -17.7 percent and year-earlier -15.0 percent.

Year-to-date, exports were 9.6 percent higher at $24.19 billion while exports fell 2.2 percent to $40.46 billion.

Electronics remained the country's top export, amounting to $3.57 billion in April or 57.4 percent of the total and up from $2.67 billion a year earlier.

Hong Kong was the biggest buyer of Philippine-made goods during the month, having purchased $1.03 billion worth or 16.5 percent of total exports.

Rounding out the top five were the United States ($948.43 million or 15.3 percent), Japan ($823.27 million or 13.2 percent), China ($702.02 million or 11.3 percent), and South Korea ($14.59 million or 5.1 percent).

Electronic products were also the Philippines' biggest import for April at $2.32 billion or 21.1 percent of the total. This was higher than the year-earlier $2.12 billion.

China was the country's biggest supplier, providing $3.15 billion worth of goods or 28.7 percent of total imports.

It was followed by Indonesia ($959.21 million or 8.7 percent), Japan ($909.54 million or 8.3 percent), South Korea ($743.11 million or 6.8 percent), and the US ($726.20 million or 6.6 percent).