Trade deficit in September reaches nearly €300 million
Preliminary figures show that Malta registered a trade deficit of €298.1 million in September 2017, compared to €204.6 million in the corresponding month of 2016, the National Statistics Office said this week.
International Trade: September 2017
Provisional data for international trade show that the trade deficit in September stood at €298.1 million, up by €93.5 million when compared to the corresponding month of 2016. Imports increased by €14.8 million, while exports show a decrease of €78.7 million (Table 1a). The increase in the value of imports was primarily due to mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials (€49.1 million), which was partly outweighed by a decrease of €41.8 million in machinery and transport equipment.
Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials (€58.5 million) accounted to the main decline in the value of exports.
January-September 2017
During the first nine months this year, the trade deficit widened by €356.3 million when compared to the corresponding period of 2016, reaching €2,588.5 million. Both imports and exports show decreases of €547.1 million and €903.3 million respectively. Lower imports were mainly due to machinery and transport equipment, which decreased by €766.2 million. This was partly outweighed by an increase of €179.0 million in mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials. On the exports side, the main decreases were registered in chemicals (€594.6 million) and mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials (€329.0 million).
Malta’s trade imports from the European Union reached €2,421.1 million, or 53.2 per cent of total imports. There was a decrease of €53.5 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 (€120.6 million) and Canada (€304.1 million) respectively. On the export side, the main increase was directed to Spain (€9.2 million), whereas the United States of America (€595.7 million) registered the highest decrease.