Brunei releases 2021 International Merchandise Trade Index Report
On July 3, the Bureau of Economic Planning and Statistics of Brunei released the 2021 International Merchandise Trade Index (IMTI) report for the first time. Changes in unit value and volume of imports and exports of goods help policymakers assess factors affecting the performance of cultural trade.
Total exports in 2021 will increase by 62.8% year-on-year, thanks to growth in fossil fuel products (+52.3%); chemicals (+46.2%) and food (+21.0%), reflecting the rising prices of these products in the world market. rise. The export volume index for 2021 decreased by 10.9% year-on-year, mainly due to the decline in the export volume index of the following categories: chemicals (-24.1%), machinery and transport equipment (-17.8%), inedible raw materials (-11.6%) and minerals Fuel (-10.7%).
Total imports increased by 57% in 2021, mainly driven by increases in the index of fossil fuels (+46.2%), animal and vegetable oils and fats (+14.1%) and miscellaneous manufactured goods (+11.5%). The import volume index in 2021 decreased by 12.5% year-on-year, mainly due to the decline in the import volume index of the following categories of goods: machinery and transport equipment (-27.1%), manufactured goods (-26.2%) and fossil fuels (-10.8%).
In addition, the terms of trade increased by 43.9% in 2021, which means that the unit value of exported goods is higher than that of imported goods. The main contributor to the positive growth was chemicals, accounting for 37.3%. Terms of trade is an indicator to measure the purchasing power of import and export commodities.