| Receipts. | Expenditure. | |
| 1899 | £1,968,770 | £1,639,800 |
| 1904 | 2,809,851 | 2,797,031 |
While direct taxes, e.g. the poll-tax and land tax or (in Cambodia) the tax on products, are the main sources of revenue for the local budgets, those for the general budget are the indirect taxes: (1) customs (£619,616 in 1904); (2) “régies” and other indirect taxes (£1,733,836 in 1904), these including the excise on alcohol, the monopoly of the purchase and sale of salt, and the monopoly of the purchase, manufacture and sale of opium.
The chief items of expenditure in 1904 were the following:—
| Public Works | £385,680 |
| Customs and “régies” | 618,654 |
| Naval and Military Services | 527,663 |
| Loans[3] | 417,421 |
Shipping.—The following table shows the total tonnage of shipping entered and cleared at the ports of French Indo-China in 1905 and its distribution over the countries of the Union:—
| Country. | Tonnage. | |
| Entered. | Cleared. | |
| Cochin-China | 1,117,054 | 1,007,510 |
| Tongking | 242,119 | 348,947 |
| Annam | 28,065 | 26,406 |
| Cambodia | 2,520 | 2,012 |
| Total | 1,389,758 | 1,384,875 |
Over half the tonnage was French (698,178 tons entered); the United Kingdom came second (284,277 tons); Germany, third (205,615 tons).
Commerce.—The value of the trade of French Indo-China increased from £6,796,000 in 1896 to £16,933,000 in 1905, its average annual value for the years 1896-1905 being £12,213,000.
The following table shows the movement of commerce in 1905:
| Imports. | Exports. | Total. | |
| £ | £ | £ | |
| France | 4,314,586 | 1,233,295 | 5,547,881 |
| French colonies | 163,568 | 76,855 | 240,423 |
| Foreign countries | 5,704,257 | 5,440,156 | 11,144,413 |
| Total | 10,182,411 | 6,750,306 | 16,932,717 |