MANILA, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines' total external trade in goods rose by 11.4 percent in July to 18.35 billion U.S. dollars, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said on Friday.
China had remained the country's biggest trading partner, it added.
Of the total external trade in July this year, the agency said 66.1 percent were imported goods, while the rest were exported goods.
The PSA said the balance of trade in goods amounted to minus 5.93 billion U.S. dollars, indicating a trade deficit with an annual increase of 69.1 percent.
The data showed that China was the Philippines' biggest supplier of imported goods and also contributed the third-highest export value to the Philippines in July. ■