HONG KONG -- The values of Hong Kong's total exports and imports of goods grew 26.3 percent and 24.3 percent respectively last year, official data showed Thursday.

A visible trade deficit of 347.1 billion Hong Kong dollars (about 44.55 billion U.S. dollars), equivalent to 6.5 percent of the value of imports of goods, was recorded in 2021, according to data from the Census and Statistics Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government.

For 2021 as a whole, total merchandise trade value amounted to about 10.27 trillion Hong Kong dollars, surpassing the high in 2018 by 15.6 percent.

A government spokesperson said the value of merchandise exports increased sharply by 24.8 percent in December 2021 over a year earlier, and exports to the Chinese mainland, the United States and European Union all expanded notably, while those to other major Asian markets also showed increases of varying degrees.

Looking ahead, while the global economic recovery should continue to support Hong Kong's exports, pandemic-induced logistic disruptions may pose some pressures on the export performance in the near term, said the spokesperson.