Preliminary figures show that Malta registered a trade deficit of €223.0 million in November 2017, compared to €112.5 million in the corresponding month of 2016, the NSO said today.

International Trade: November 2017

Provisional data for international trade show that the trade deficit in November stood at €223.0 million, up by €110.5 million when compared to the corresponding month of 2016. Imports increased by €40.1 million, while exports show a decrease of €70.4 million. The increase in the value of imports was primarily due to mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials (€29.6 million).

On the exports side, mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials (€42.8 million) and food (€35.4 million) accounted for the main decrease in the value of exports.

January-November 2017

During the first 11 months last year, the trade deficit widened by €460.1 million when compared to the corresponding period of 2016, reaching €3,078.1 million. Both imports and exports show decreases of €472.1 million and €932.1 million respectively. Lower imports were mainly due to machinery and transport equipment, which decreased by €704.9 million. This was partly outweighed by an increase of €147.4 million in mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials.

On the exports side, the main decreases were registered in chemicals (€580.6 million) and mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials (€338.6 million).

Malta’s trade imports from the European Union reached €3,003.8 million, or 53.4 per cent of total imports. There was a decrease of €15.3 million in imports from euro area countries when compared to the same period of 2016. Main increases and decreases in imports were registered from the Russian Federation (€125.5 million) and Canada (€347.2 million) respectively. On the export side, the main increase was directed to Tunisia (€15.7 million), whereas the United States of America (€604.7 million) registered the highest decrease.