Preliminary figures show that Malta registered a trade deficit of €386.9 million in May, compared to €128.5 million in the corresponding month of 2014, the NSO said.
International Trade: May 2015
Provisional data for international trade show that the trade deficit in May stood at €386.9 million, up by €258.4 million when compared to the corresponding month in 2014. Imports registered an increase of €144.7 million while exports declined by €113.7 million.
The increase in the value of imports was primarily due to machinery and transport equipment (€257.1 million). Other increases were recorded for semi-manufactured goods, food, miscellaneous transactions and commodities, and crude materials. Regarding exports, mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials accounted for the main decrease (€111.5 million), while miscellaneous manufactured articles, semi-manufactured goods, beverages and tobacco, miscellaneous transactions and commodities, and machinery and transport equipment also registered decreases.
January-May 2015
During the first five months this year, the trade deficit widened by €549.0 million, to €1,181.4 million when compared to the corresponding period last year. Imports increased by €325.2 million, while exports registered a decline of €223.7 million. Higher imports were mainly due to machinery and transport equipment (€680.0 million), while the decrease in the value of exports was triggered by lower mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials (€239.5 million), machinery and transport equipment (€10.0 million), and beverages and tobacco (€4.2 million).
Malta’s trade imports from the European Union reached €1,441.9 million, or 55.1 per cent of total imports. There was an increase of €226.4 million in imports from euro area countries when compared to the same period last year. Main increases and decreases in imports were registered from the Netherlands (€235.6 million) and the United States of America (€126.6 million) respectively. On the export side the main increase was directed to China (€17.6 million), whereas Italy (€44.7 million) registered the highest decrease.