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Sunday, October 19, 2025 Vol. 21 No. 11
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WORLD IS SHRINKING FOR PHL EXPORTERS
SHRINKING TRADE FOOTPRINT Total Exporters Lost Since 2020: 2,386 6,500 6,000
6,386 goods exporter headcount in 2020 or during the start of the pandemic plunged to 5,784 exporters in 2021, down by 602 exporters. Heading to 2022, the Philippines lost 1,214 exporters. Albeit a smaller marginal decline, this downtrend continued as the country lost 263 exporters in 2023, ending the year with only 4,307 participating in global trade. In 2024, the country lost 182 exporters as it was left with only 4,125 exporters. As of August 2025, Leong told this paper that the country’s exporters could be at around 4,000.
Hit by tariffs, wages
LEONG pointed to tariffs and wages as some of the factors that led some exporters to stop shipping. “Like what they’re saying here in Central Luzon, they’re directly hit by tariffs and wages. Those with very small margins, which all exporters I suppose have now kasi
6,386 5,784
5,500 5,000 4,500
4,570
4,307
4,000
4,125
4,000
3,500 3,000
“I know that through the years, it’s been going down. Because there was a time we were counting like 6,000. About two months ago, it was only about 4,000. So through the years, it’s declining,” Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. (Philexport) Vice President Ma. Flordeliza C. Leong told the BusinessMirror on the sidelines of the recent United Portusers Confederation of the Philippines Inc.’s 3rd Partners’ Forum. “We know that during the pandemic, for example, a lot closed in Cebu. Many of them,” she also told this newspaper. Data obtained by the BusinessMirror from the Department of Trade and Industry-Export Marketing Bureau (DTI-EMB) Director Bianca Pearl R. Sykimte, as processed by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), showed that the country lost 2,261 exporters in just the span of five years. To illustrate, the country’s
Exporters per port of origin
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025 (as of Aug.)
Year
nga very competitive. Talagang cost agad yung ano, wages, tariffs, ’yun agad ang hit,” the Philexport official said. Through the lens of the government, however, DTI-EMB Director Bianca Pearl R. Sykimte listed “a mix of factors” that could be the culprit behind the continuous decline in the number of Philippine exporters. “Some would have prioritized our growing domestic market, some may have opted to use consolidators instead of directly exporting,” the DTI-Export Marketing Bureau official said, further explaining that this move would save exporters the time and effort in terms of compliance and marketing. On the tough competition being faced by Philippine exporters, Leong explained that the strategy of exporters boils down to how they es-
tablish “buyer relationships.” “Now it’s very bilateral. You can’t generalize it anymore. If they really want to help you in terms of cost, in terms of marketing and everything. That’s one strategy that on their own exporters can use,” added the Philexport official. She stressed anew the importance of pouring funds into the country’s exports sector, which, she pointed out, has been the gap that needs to be filled in, to uplift the country’s outbound shippers and help them participate on the global stage. “But again, immediately, for the government to pour in resources to help exporters. That’s still the key because other countries are subsidizing. Even if the term subsidy is prohibited, they are doing. So it’s not an even playing field,” added Leong.
BM Graphics: Ed Davad/source: DTI-EMB/PSA
HE number of Philippine businesses dealing with global trade has continuously dwindled through the years due to inadequate budgets, shifts to the domestic market, and, lately, the uncertainty stemming from protectionist policies such as the Washington-imposed reciprocal tariffs.
Exporters
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By Andrea E. San Juan
MEANWHILE, the DTI-Export Marketing Bureau captured an overview of the traffic of exporters per port of origin across the country. Data obtained by the BusinessMirror from the government’s export marketing arm showed that ports nationwide have lost 2,171 exporters across several ports in the country from 2021 to 2024. In 2021, the country had 9,331 exporters. Of these, 3,476 shipped their goods through the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA); 2,371 through the Manila International Container Port; 713 through the Clark Air Base; 504 through Cebu City and 471 through Cebu International Airport. These are only the top five ports of origin. The dataset provided by DTIEMB showed that the country’s ports saw a lower number of exporter traffic in 2022, losing 1,517 exporters, ending the year with only 7,814. In 2023, trade thoroughfares continued to see less activity as 478 stopped exporting, ending the year with only 7,336 exporters. Heading to 2024, data indicated that the country lost 176 exporters across ports, ending the year with only 7,160 outbound shippers. Across the five ports which saw the most trade activity in the four-year timeframe, it is worth pointing out that NAIA lost 1,535 exporters and Cebu International Airport saw 386 less exporters. Of the 7,160 exporters recorded last year, 2,372 are stationed
at the Manila International Container Port; 1,941 at the NAIA; 701 at the Clark Air Base; 442 in Cebu City and 386 at the Cebu International Airport. In a story published by the BusinessMirror in December 2023, Sykimte underscored that nearly 4,000 exporters have stopped shipping their products in the last five years or from 2019 to 2023. The DTI-EMB official said the number of exporters in 2022 is just roughly half of the figure in 2018. Philexport President Sergio R. Ortiz-Luis Jr. told this newspaper that most of these exporters are in the food sector and they stopped because “there is a lack of supply.” Among the old-time exporters, he said a lot of these exporters stopped due to geopolitical reasons, cost of doing business and the tough business environment. “The transportation, shipping…and many stopped because of the LGU pass-through fees. Also, the costs at the pier were becoming too high,” the Philexport chief said, partly in Filipino. Sykimte also noted that the number of products that the country exported “more or less stagnated” while the Philippines’ competitors continued to “diversify” both their products and their markets.
Diversification strategy not new
AS Philippine exporters are currently exploring other markets amid their attempt to veer away from countries imposing steeper tariffs, Philexport Vice President Ma. Flordeliza C. Leong underscored that “DiversificaContinued on A2
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 58.0850 n JAPAN 0.3863 n UK 78.0662 n HK 7.4752 n CHINA 8.1546 n SINGAPORE 44.9088 n AUSTRALIA 37.6681 n EU 67.9014 n KOREA 0.0410 n SAUDI ARABIA 15.4877 Source: BSP (October 17, 2025)