Manila: The Philippines recorded a historic high in agricultural exports, reaching USD1.029 billion in April amid the Department of Agriculture's (DA) intensified global market expansion campaign.
According to Philippines News Agency, the value represents a 33.2-percent increase from the USD772.68 million in agricultural exports recorded in April 2025, as reported by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). The PSA identified top commodity groups contributing to this growth, including animal, vegetable, or microbial fats and oils and their cleavage products; prepared edible fats; and animal or vegetable waxes.
In an interview, DA spokesperson Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa emphasized the government's efforts to strengthen campaigns to expand the global reach of world-class Philippine agricultural products. "There have been consecutive openings of new markets for our tropical fruits and high-value crops," he said, highlighting partnerships with other government agencies and the private sector.
The agency has been actively pushing for the export expansion of products such as coconut, mango, pineapple, avocado, banana, pomelo, dragon fruit, rambutan, ube, coffee, and cacao, among others. De Mesa stated that the DA aims to reduce the agricultural trade deficit, given the country's "huge potential and strong comparative advantage" over other countries. "Our target is to narrow down the trade deficit, the gap between imported items and export," he said.
To support this goal, the DA established the High Value Export Crop, Agri-Fishery Export Development and Promotion Office, the first office under the administration of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. dedicated solely to export promotion. "There is now an office dedicated for export promotion. Its function is to promote and to come up with a comprehensive program," De Mesa added. The office is headed by Agriculture Undersecretary Philip Young.
Meanwhile, PSA data showed that the agricultural trade deficit narrowed by 34.7 percent in April to USD600.09 million, lower than the USD919.64 million recorded in the same period last year. Among the latest developments in global market expansion was the first commercial shipment of pineapples from South Cotabato to Khor Fakkan Port in the United Arab Emirates. The shipment, totaling 18 metric tons (MT), departed on Monday. On June 3, the Philippines also completed its first shipment of 1 metric ton of Zambales mangoes to Toronto, Canada.
