Macau’s imports of mobile phones dropped 32.2 percent year on year to 6.9 billion patacas in the first half of the year, the Statistics and Census Bureau (DSEC) has announced.
Imports of watches fell 14.4 percent to 5.4 billion patacas.
Both mobile phones and watches are popular among shoppers from the Chinese mainland.
Beauty, cosmetic and skincare products – Macau’s number-one import segment – rose 3.9 percent to 11.49 billion patacas in the first six months of the year.
Food and beverage imports rose 38.4 percent to 9.1 billion patacas.
Total imports grew a mere 0.6 percent to 74.0 billion patacas, while exports rose 7.3 percent to 7.17 billion patacas, resulting in a merchandise trade balance deficit of 66.8 billion patacas. Re-exports accounted for 85.3 percent of total exports.
Mainland China, France and Italy accounted for 29.4 percent, 20.1 percent and 11.8 percent of Macau’s imports between January and June.
