Macau's exports and imports in the first 10 months of the year fell by 18.1 percent and 7.1 percent to 8.6 billion patacas (US$1.08 billion) and 67.4 billion patacas respectively, but imports of beauty, cosmetic and skincare products jumped by 148 percent to 13.3 billion patacas year-on-year, the Statistics and Census Bureau (DSEC) announced today. 

Beauty, cosmetic and skincare products were the number-one segment of Macau's imports between January and October, ahead of food and beverage imports which dropped by 20.1 percent to 9.08 billion patacas and garment and footwear imports which fell by 21.9 percent to 5.4 billion patacas. 

Macau's economy has been hard hit since late January by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Macau recorded a trade balance deficit of 58.8 billion patacas in the first 10 months of the year. 

Re-exports accounted for 85.5 percent of Macau's total exports in the 10-month period.