Export earnings fell 20.7 percent year-on-year to $4.2 billion in December, dragging the decline for all of 2012 down to 6.9 percent, the National Statistics Office said in a statement.

Philippine exports had been dropping since May, but the December fall was the second steepest for the year after a 27.0-percent plunge in September.

The electronics sector, which makes up nearly half of the country's exports, tumbled 32.7 percent in December from a year earlier, following a 34.4-percent drop the previous month, it added.

Copper, gold and furniture were the only major exports that registered double-digit gains in December, it added.