Negative trade trends continue

Trade volumes continued their steep decline during the first five months of this year, according to new data released by the EU's statistics arm yesterday.

Malta exported 26 per cent less between January and May compared to the same period in 2008, Eurostat figures show. Importation also registered a substantial drop of 19 per cent, reflecting lower consumption.

On the exports front the drop works out to about €200 million worth of goods less from a value of €800 million last year. The picture with imports was the same - €200 million less than in 2008 when imports hit €1.3 million.

Although the Maltese trade figures are not rosy, they reflect a trend present in all the 27 EU member states.

Some eight member states saw bigger slides in their exports than Malta. Among these are advanced economies such as Finland and Sweden, whose hi-tech exports plummeted.

Finland registered the worst performance in exports in the EU with a drop of 37 per cent. The Finns were followed by neighbours Sweden at 32 per cent.

On the importation side, the EU 27 member states are also experiencing lower demand translating into reduced importation. Some European economies are at an all-time low, with Lithuania topping the list at -44 per cent over last year.

Germany, by far Europe's biggest exporter, has registered a very bad year so far with exports down 24 per cent until May, even though recent statistics suggest it may be on the way out of the recession. Europe's other big economy, France, is not doing much better with exports dropping by 22 per cent over the same period.

Still, according to the latest GDP data issued by Eurostat a few days ago, the European economy is expected to start performing better in the coming months as Germany and France have reported slight economic growth in the last quarter, providing a glimmer of hope that the worst of the recession may be over.