Philippine exports fell by 39 percent in February, the government said Thursday amid a continued downturn in demand caused by the global financial turmoil.

Exports fell to $2.503 billion in February compared with $4.112 billion in the same period last year, the National Statistics Office said.

The fall in February was just slightly lower than the 41 percent drop in January and the 40.4 percent downturn in December.

Total exports in the first two months of the year fell to $5.015 billion, a 39.9-percent fall from the same period in 2008, the office said in a statement.

Shipments of electronic products, which accounted for 54 percent of all exports in February, slid 45 percent from the same period last year to $1.352 billion, the office said.

However, electronic exports in February were up 0.5 percent from the exports in January.

The United States was still the main buyer, receiving $466.57 million or 18.6 percent of all Philippine exports in January. Japan was the second-highest importer, followed by China, the Netherlands and Hong Kong, the office added.

Government economic planners had earlier said they expect electronics exports to decline by 8.0-10 percent in 2009 compared with 2008.

The government had previously cut its growth forecast for 2009 to between 3.7 and 4.4 percent, down from 3.7 to 4.7 percent in the face of slumping exports and signs that the global economic downturn would be more severe than expected.