Macao's trade deficit for the first four months of 2010 widened by 27.7 percent over the same period of last year to 10.88 billion patacas (1.36 U.S. dollars), according to the figures released on Monday by the city's Statistics and Census Service (DSEC).

The city's total value of merchandise export fell by seven percent year-on-year to 2.52 billion patacas (315 million dollars), while that of import grew by 19.3 percent to 13.40 billion patacas, the figures indicated. The exports/imports ratio went down by 5.3 percentage points year-on-year to 18.8 percent in the period.

Analyzed by destination of exports, value of merchandise export to Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland from January to April 2010 increased by 24.7 percent and 0.3 percent respectively year-on-year, while that to the United States and the European Union decreased by 56.5 percent and 47.8 percent respectively.

Exports of textile and garment amounted to 514 million patacas, down substantially by 51.7 percent year-on-year to account for 20.4 percent of the total merchandise export. The value of non-textile exports grew by 21.9 percent to 2.01 billion patacas in the period, with that of Copper and Jewelry rising notably by 139.4 percent and 119.1 percent respectively.

Regarding the country of origin of imported goods, value of merchandise import from the Chinese mainland and the EU expanded by 21.7 percent and 20.7 percent respectively year-on-year in the period, according to the DSEC.

Between January and April 2010, the combined value of local merchandise import and export amounted to 15.92 billion patacas, up by 14.2 percent compared with the same period of 2009, the DSEC said.