Preliminary figures show that Malta registered a trade deficit of €253.3 million in June, compared to €357.4 million in the corresponding month of 2014, the National Statistics Office said today.
Provisional data for international trade show that the trade deficit in June stood at €253.3 million, down by €104.1 million when compared to the corresponding month of 2014. Imports declined by €80.5 million while exports registered an increase of €23.5 million.
The decrease in the value of imports was primarily due to mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials (€61.8 million). Other decreases were recorded for machinery and transport equipment, food, beverages and tobacco, and crude materials.
Regarding exports, mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials accounted for the main increase (€32.8 million), with food, and machinery and transport equipment also registering increases.
During the first six months, the trade deficit widened by €459.9 million, to €1,449.9 million when compared to the corresponding period last year. Imports increased by €269.7 million, while exports registered a decline of €190.2 million.
Higher imports were mainly due to machinery and transport equipment (€667.6 million), while the decrease in the value of exports was triggered by lower mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials (€203.1 million), and machinery and transport equipment (€8.7 million).
Malta’s trade imports from the European Union reached €1,806.3 million, or 56.4 per cent of total imports. There was an increase of €272.1 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 (€239.8 million) and the United States of America (€177.7 million) respectively. On the export side the main increase was directed to China (€18.1 million), whereas Libya (€80.0 million) registered the highest decrease.