MANILA, Philippines — The country’s trade deficit narrowed in November as a drop in imports eased and exports rebounded from a year earlier, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed on Friday. The $3.51-billion shortfall – 28.8 percent lower compared to the year ago $4.93 billion and also down from $4.19 billion in October — came as outbound shipments grew by 21.3 percent to $6.91 billion and imports slid 2.0 percent to $10.423 billion. A year ago, exports fell by 8.6 percent to $5.7 billion and inbound shipments dropped by a larger 3.3 percent to $10.63 billion. November’s results, meanwhile, were lower than the previous month’s exports of $7.45 billion and imports of $11.64 billion. External trade totaled $17.33 billion in November, up 6.1 percent from $16.33 billion a year earlier, but was lower compared to October’s $19.09 billion. The merchandise trade tally since the start of 2025 rose to $199.99 billion, higher than the $185.37 billion seen in January-November last year, with exports at $77.39 billion – up from $67.6 billion — and imports hitting $122.59 billion (P127.59 billion a year earlier). The year-to-date trade balance remained in deficit at $45.2 billion, lower than the $50.18 billion posted a year ago. Electronics remained the country’s top export in November, accounting for $4.19 billion or 60.7 percent of the total. It was also the top import for the month at $2.87 billion — 27.6 percent of all inbound shipments. Hong Kong was the biggest buyer of Philippine-made goods last month with a share of $1.17 billion or 16.9 percent while China was the country’s largest supplier, having sold $2.9 billion or 27.8 percent of the total imports.