Macau imported gold jewellery worth 6.7 billion patacas last year, up 16.3 percent, the Statistics and Census Bureau (DSEC) announced Wednesday.
Gold jewellery accounted for 8.8 percent of last year’s total value of imports.
Gold jewellery made up the second biggest item among Macau’s imports, after food and beverages (12.0 billion patacas, + 4.7 percent) and ahead of fuels and lubricants (6.4 billion patacas, + 5.2 percent).
Last year, the city imported garments and footwear worth 6.1 billion patacas (+7.4 percent), watches worth 5.2 billion patacas (+ 8.9 percent), mobile phones worth 4.79 billion patacas (unchanged year on year), handbags and wallets worth 3.48 billion patacas (+ 33 percent), beauty, cosmetic and skin-care products worth 3.2 billion patacas (+ 12.4 percent), and construction materials 1.8 billion patacas (- 5.6 percent).
Total imports rose 6.3 percent to 75.85 billion patacas.
Total exports grew 12.3 percent to 11.28 billion patacas, resulting in an external merchandise trade deficit of 64.56 billion patacas.
Re-exports accounted for 84.1 percent of all exports.
