TRADE between the European Union (EU) and the Philippines grew 3.8% in 2024 to 16.8 billion euros, the EU Delegation to the Philippines said.
Philipp Dupuis, minister counselor and head of the economic and trade section of the EU Delegation, said: “EU imports from the Philippines grew 3.1% to 9.1 billion euros. EU exports to the Philippines increased 4.7% to 7.7 billion euros,” he said in an e-mail.
“Electronic products remain the main export of the Philippines to the EU in terms of value at 6.3 billion euros in 2024. The majority of these products enjoy a most favored nation (MFN) rate of 0%,” he added.
Philippine exports to the EU include 2.8 billion euros worth of goods admitted under the EU Generalized Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+) scheme.
“This brings the Philippines’ GSP+ utilization rate to a record high of 80% in 2024,” he added.
He said that the Philippine exports that benefited from GSP+ accounted for 25% of the country’s total exports to the bloc.
“The main beneficiaries are the agri-food, chemicals, and footwear sectors,” he added.
The Philippines participates in the GSP+ scheme, a special incentive arrangement for low and lower middle-income countries, under which over 6,000 Philippine products are admitted duty-free.
The Philippines will lose its EU GSP+ eligibility once it reaches upper middle-income status and maintains it for three consecutive years. The government is hoping to achieve upper middle-income status next year.
The Philippines and the EU are negotiating a free trade agreement (FTA), which is set to improve on the market access provided under GSP+.
The parties are set to hold a third round of negotiations for the FTA next month. — Justine Irish D. Tabile