Malta Insights

TRADE DEFICIT CUT BY TWO-FIFTHS IN JULY

Malta reported a trade deficit of €231 million in July 2020, narrowing the gap by 43 percent compared to the same month last year. Provisional data by the National Statistics Office indicates that both imports and exports recorded a year-on-year decrease, with the former down from €687.9 million to €466.2 million and the latter down from €278.3 million to €235.2 million.

Mineral fuels, lubricants, and related materials contributed the biggest decline in the value of imports, falling by €100.3 million over the twelve months. The next largest drop was observed in machinery and transport equipment, with a decrease of €79.3 million. These two commodity groups also registered the sharpest declines in exports: a dip of €29.9 million in machinery and transport equipment, and of €29.3 million in mineral fuels, lubricants, and related materials.

In the first seven months of the year, trade deficit stood at €1,470.9 million, slimmer than that registered during the same period in 2019 by €1,120.5 million. The value of imports fell by 40 percent to reach €3,236.1 million while the value of exports amounted to €1,765.2, a decrease of 10 percent.

Just under €2,076 million of imports arrived from the EU, 50.5 percent of total imports. Meanwhile, exports to the bloc amounted to €770 million, 43 percent of all dispatches. The greatest value of imports between January and July arrived from Italy (€534M), followed by China (€269M) and ahead of Luxembourg (€207M) and Germany (€205M).

The value of exports to Germany was €286 million, the highest among importers of Maltese commodities. France (€119M), Italy (€81M) and the United States (€76M) were the next three biggest destination countries for exports.

MALTA REGISTERS HIGHEST INCREASE IN INDUSTRIAL PRICES IN THE EU

Industrial producer prices in the EU fell by 3.0 percent in July, compared with the same month last year. Decreases were observed in every member state except for Slovenia and Slovakia (both +0.3%) and Malta (+1.7%).

Figures by Eurostat show that, year-on-year, producer prices for energy dropped by 11.2 percent across the EU and by 11.6 in the euro area, the industrial category with the largest decrease in both zones. Prices for durable consumer goods, on the other hand, registered the biggest rise both in the EU (+1.7) and the euro area (+1.6%).

Lithuania saw the sharpest fall in annual industrial prices, down by 8.5 percent, followed by Cyprus (-6.7%) and Italy (-5.4%).

European domestic market indices for total industry grew for the second consecutive month in July, rising by 0.4 percent in the EU and by 0.6 in the euro area, compared with June. The highest increase was recorded in Belgium (+2.3%), followed by Spain (+1.8%) and Bulgaria (+1.6%). Cyprus, Estonia, and Sweden were at the other end of the scale, registering decreases of 2.2 percent, 2.1 percent, and 0.8 percent, respectively. Malta registered no change month-on-month for the third time in a row.

INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION INDEX UP FOR SECOND MONTH

The Index of Industrial Production rose by 1.3 percent in July from the month before, driven mainly by an increase in capital goods which soared by 11.1 percent in the period. This was the second consecutive rise since a sharp -6.7 percent decline in April.

Data by the National Statistics Office indicates a decrease in the production of energy (-2.7%) and in intermediate goods (-0.9%) while consumer goods edged up by 0.1 percent.

Compared to July 2019, the seasonally adjusted Index was down by 2.7 percent although increases were registered in energy production (+2.8%) and consumer goods (+0.6%). The biggest drop year-on-year was observed in intermediate goods (-10.4%) while capital goods fell by -6.7 percent.

The highest total production Index this year was recorded in March, which was 2.5 percent more than the July figures.

UNEMPLOYMENT LEVELS DOWN FOR FOURTH CONSECUTIVE MONTH

The unemployment levels for July stood at 11,195, a decrease of nearly 300 from the month before. Data by the National Statistics Office shows that seasonally adjusted rate of unemployment dropped by 0.2 percent from June to settle at 4.1 percent. The figures show a month-on-month tapering since a high of 4.4 percent registered in April.

Compared with July 2019, the unemployment rate recorded a rise of 0.5 percent with an increase of over 1,800 people in total unemployment. Youth unemployment accounting for the 15-24 age group also grew by 0.3 from the previous year to reach 9.1 percent in July 2020, but the unemployment level within this bracket fell by around 200.

The unemployment rate among women was 4.6 percent in the month under review and it stood at 3.8 among men. While the rate registered a 0.1 percent decrease from June among the latter group, it fell by 0.2 among women. Compared with the year before, however, the rates rose by 0.5 percent among men and by 0.6 percent among women.