Hong Kong's external trade grew significantly in 2005 in line with the expansion of both the Mainland and the global economy. Total merchandise trade increased by 10.9 per cent over 2004 to $4,579.6 billion. Domestic exports increased by 8 per cent to $136 billion, while re-exports rose by 11.7 per cent to $2,114.1 billion compared to the previous year. Imports increased by 10.3 per cent to $2,329.5 billion. The year recorded a trade deficit of $79.3 billion, smaller than the corresponding deficit of $92 billion in 2004. The Appendices provide summary statistics of external trade.

Hong Kong's largest trading partner in 2005 was the Mainland, followed by the United States (US) and Japan.

In 2005, Hong Kong was the world's 11th largest trading entity in terms of value of merchandise trade.

Imports

Electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances, and their electrical parts constituted the largest share of total imports in 2005 at $530.2 billion, followed by telecommunications and sound recording and reproducing apparatus and equipment ($295.7 billion), office machines and automatic data processing machines ($250.3 billion), articles of apparel and clothing accessories ($143.4 billion) and textile yarn, fabrics, made-up articles and related products ($107.3 billion).

In 2005, the Mainland, Japan and Taiwan were Hong Kong's major suppliers, accounting for 45 per cent, 11 per cent and 7.2 per cent of the total value of imports, respectively.

Domestic Exports

Articles of apparel and clothing accessories continued to be the largest component of domestic exports, valued at $56.2 billion or 41.3 per cent of the total value of domestic exports in 2005. At $18.8 billion, electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances, and their electrical parts came second. Other major export items included office machines and automatic data processing machines; jewellery, goldsmiths' and silversmiths' wares, and other articles of precious or semi-precious materials; textile yarn, fabrics, made-up articles and related products; and plastics in primary form.

The Mainland, the US and the United Kingdom were Hong Kong's largest markets during the year, absorbing 32.8 per cent, 27.8 per cent and 5.4 per cent of the total value of domestic exports, respectively.

Re-exports

In 2005, electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances, and their electrical parts worth $442.2 billion were the principal commodities re-exported (20.9 per cent of the total value of re-exports). This was followed by the re-exports of telecommunications and sound recording and reproducing apparatus and equipment, which amounted to $324.9 billion (15.4 per cent of the total value of re-exports). The Mainland, Japan and Taiwan were the main origins of the re-exports, while the Mainland, the US and Japan were the main destinations.