CUSTOMS RETURNS

Dominion, Volume 20, Issue 67, 13 December 1926, Page 8

CUSTOMS RETURNS

SERIOUS FALL IN EXPORTS Figures have been supplied by the Customs Department of imports and exports for (a) the month of November (b) the eight months to date (Ap-ril-November inclusive) of the financial year 1926-27; (c) the eleven months to date (January-November inclusive) of the calendar year 1926. To these figures have been attached, for purposes of comparison, the figures for the corresponding month or months of the preceding year, giving the fol-

In November imports showed an expected falling-off, but exports showed an even greater decrease, and these November figures—which may be due as much to shipping irregularities or other temporary cause as to the general fall in values—have helped to swell the gap between imports and exports indicated .in the following table: —

Excess of imports over exports, 1925 6,871,504 The above figures show that though, during the current financial year to date, imports have declined by £2,882,638, exports have declined by nearly the same amount; and imports now exceed exports by £6,829,098, but it must be remembered that the export season is only beginning. The eleven months’ figures (calendar year) are shown as under: —

This table reflects the importance, from the export point of view, of January, February, and March, for though the falling-off of -exports in the eleven months of 1926, as compared with 1925, is nearly nine and a half millions, vet the excess of imports over exports for the eleven months of 1926 is substantially less than the excess shown in the eight months’ table. At the same time, the fact that, even on the eleven months’ comparison, an excess of exports of £2,834,128 in 1925 is turned into an excess of imports of £4,257,600 in 1926 is sufficiently serious.

lowing result: — Exports. £ 2,223,660 4,498,839 Nov., 1926 Nov., 1925 Imports. £ 3,760,339 4,834,480 Decrease, 1926 ... 1,074,141 2,275,179

Imports. Exports. £ £ Eight months (April - Nov.), 1926 31,808,695 24,979,597 Eight months (April - Nov.), 1925 34,691,333 27,819,829 Decrease, 1926... 2,882,638 2,840,232 Excess of imports over exports, 1926 . 6,829,098

Imports. £ . Exports. £ Eleven months (Jan. - Nov., 1926) 45,501,467 41,243,867 Eleven months (Jan. - Nov., 1925) 47,814,656 50,648,781 Decrease, 1926... 2.813,189 9,404,917 Excess of imports over exports, 1926 4,257,600 Excess of exports over imports, 1925 2,834,128