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MAY KEY FIGURES

	March 2012	April 2012	May 2012
	$m	$m	$m
Food and live animals	719	712	774
Beverages and tobacco	134	146	153
Crude materials, inedible, except fuels	188	255	182
Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials	3 932	3 249	3 754
Animal and vegetable oils, fats and waxes	58	45	43
Chemicals and related products, nes	2 213	1 943	2 093
Manufactured goods classified chiefly by material	1 846	1 950	2 260
Machinery and transport equipment	8 617	7 500	8 175
Miscellaneous manufactured articles	2 241	2 139	2 404
Commodities and transactions not classified elsewhere in the SITC	858	876	890
TOTAL	20 805	18 815	20 728

• In original terms, the May 2012 merchandise imports were $20,728m, an increase of $1,913m (10%) on the April 2012 merchandise imports of $18,815m.

• Preliminary analysis shows that goods debits (imports) on a balance of payments basis in original terms rose $1,988m (10%) between April 2012 and May 2012. In seasonally adjusted terms, goods debits rose $808m (4%) from $21,060m in April 2012 to $21,868m in May 2012. Intermediate and other merchandise goods rose $515m (6%), driven by the fuels and lubricants component, up $492m (16%). Capital goods rose $176m (3%), non-monetary gold rose $108m (27%) and consumption goods rose $10m.

• Revisions have been made to the previous six months to incorporate the latest administrative data relating to international merchandise trade.