Preliminary figures show that Malta registered a trade deficit of €222.3 million in July 2015, compared to €299.7 million in the corresponding month of 2014, the NSO said today.

International Trade: July 2015

Provisional data for international trade show that the trade deficit in July stood at €222.3 million, down by €77.4 million when compared to the corresponding month of 2014.

Imports declined by €58.2 million while exports registered an increase of €19.1 million. The decrease in the value of imports was primarily due to mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials (€91.5 million). Other decreases were recorded for food, chemicals, miscellaneous manufactured articles, and animal and vegetable oils and fats.

Regarding exports, mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials accounted for the main increase (€19.9 million), with chemicals, miscellaneous manufactured articles, food, semi-manufactured goods, and beverages and tobacco also registering increases.

January-July 2015

During the first seven months, the trade deficit widened by €410.5 million, to €1,700.2 million when compared to the corresponding period last year. Imports increased by €250.3 million, while exports registered a decline of €160.2 million. Higher imports were mainly due to machinery and transport equipment (€700.8 million), while the decrease in the value of exports was triggered by lower mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials (€178.5 million), and machinery and transport equipment (€20.4 million).

Malta’s trade imports from the European Union reached €2,144.7 million, or 56.3 per cent of total imports. There was an increase of €272.0 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 (€191.3 million) and the United States of America (€164.4 million) respectively. On the export side the main increase was directed to France (€19.8 million), whereas Libya (€76.6 million) registered the highest decrease.