Macao's total export for 2007 dropped slightly by 0.2 percent over 2006 , while the SAR's imports grew by 18 percent, bringing about a trade deficit of 22.68 billion patacas (around 2.8 billion U.S. dollars), according to the statistics released on Friday by the Statistics and Census Service (SCS) of the special administrative region (SAR).

The SCS statistics showed that the value of textile and garment exports in 2007, which accounted for 65.6 percent of the total exports, decreased by 8.6 percent over 2006, nevertheless, the value of non-textile exports rose by 21.3 percent, of which machines and apparatus, parts and accessories expanded by 56.2 percent while foot wear fell by 1.7 percent.

The United States and the European Union remained the major destinations of Macao's exports, together making up 58.8 percent of the total value of exports, which also saw a decrease of 8.1 percent and 6.9 percent respectively over 2006, according to the statistics.

Meanwhile, the statistics also showed that imports from the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong, comprising 52.7 percent of the total value of imports, rose by 11.6 percent and 17 percent respectively compared with 2006.

(Xinhua News Agency February 2, 2008)