Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Cristina Roque on Tuesday urged the country’s exporters to leverage the looming signing of free trade agreements next year, including the EU, Chile, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

During the kick-off of the 2025 National Exporters’ Week at the EDSA Shangrila, Mandaluyong City, Roque told attending exporters to “take advantage of this. Let’s open our market to the world. Let’s open the opportunities to the world,” on a high note after the country’s export posted a 19.4 percent year-on-year growth in October, based on the report of the S&P Global on the Purchasing Managers Index.

Roque further encouraged exporters and partners to fully participate in this year’s programs in line with the theme, Making Waves: Exporters Driving the Nation Forward.

“Let us work together to ride this wave of opportunity and position the Philippines as a global trade powerhouse. Let us not just make waves. Let us create a tide that lifts every Filipino in this Bagong Pilipinas,” she said.

Philippine merchandise exports have grown for ten consecutive months, signaling a strong recovery from the past two years’ slowdown.

From January to October 2025, total exports reached $70.43 billion, up from $61.90 billion in the same period in 2024, marking a 13.80 percent increase.

Electronics, still the country’s leading export category, grew by 11.7 percent, rising from $36.54 billion in 2024 to $40.82 billion in 2025.

The expansion suggests sustained momentum in semiconductor and electronic component manufacturing, supported by both export diversification and increased orders from major trading partners.

Meanwhile, non-electronics exports outpaced the growth of electronics, posting a robust 16.8% growth rate. Shipments climbed from $25.35 billion to $29.61 billion, driven by stronger performance in sectors such as manufactured products, minerals, and agro-based goods.

Under the recent U.S. Executive Order, the share of Philippine agricultural exports to the U.S. enjoying exemptions from reciprocal tariffs surged from virtually zero to over 65 percent of covered categories.

The policy shift benefits high-value products such as coconut oil and derivatives, pineapple and mango preparations, frozen bananas, cassava, baked goods, coffee, and select spices.

Services exports posted a slight contraction in the first half of 2025. From January to June 2025, the Philippine services exports amounted to $24.43 billion, marginally lower than the USD 24.65 billion recorded in the same period of 2024. This represents a 0.89 percent decline, reflecting generally stable external demand with minimal year-on-year reduction.

Despite the modest dip, the overall level of services exports remained largely steady, indicating that major service industries such as IT-BPM, travel, and transport continued to perform near their 2024 levels, with only a slight softening in their performance during the period.

Overall, the double-digit expansion across major export categories underscores the resilience of the Philippine export sector and signals a positive outlook heading into the final quarter of 2025.

In terms of export destinations, the data highlights the increasingly diversified export landscape, driven by double-digit growth in several major markets.