Malta registered the highest increase in exports among the 27 member states in the first half of this year, according to data issued by Eurostat in Brussels yesterday.

Confirming Malta’s above-average economic growth during this year’s first semester, Eurostat said Malta’s exports increased by 54 per cent between January and June compared to the same period last year.

Malta exported €500 million worth of goods more than in the first six months of 2010, reaching a total export value of €1.4 billion by the end of June.

The EU’s statistics office data also shows imports into Malta rose by 34 per cent in the same period, for a total value of €1.9 billion.

Eurostat said last week Malta, the smallest economy in the eurozone, managed to register the highest GDP growth in the area between April and June.

“These trade statistics support Malta’s exceptional GDP growth performance during the second quarter as exports are one of the pillars of Malta’s economy,” an EU official said.

Apart from Malta, only Estonia – the latest member of the eurozone – managed to perform so well in terms of exports, posting an increase of 53 per cent.

Although exports increased across the eurozone, performance varied, with Luxembourg registering the smallest increase at six per cent.

In the case of imports, the largest increase was registered by Estonia, where the value of goods imported rose by 49 per cent compared to the same period last year.

Greece, which has been rocked by soaring debt, saw imports drop by 20 per cent, reflecting the austerity mood reigning in the country.

Meanwhile, other statistics issued by Eurostat show Malta’s inflation in August remaining almost stable compared to the previous month at 2.3 per cent, 0.1 per cent up on July. Still, the island’s inflation was lower than the eurozone average, which, although remaining stable, stood at 2.5 per cent.

In August, the lowest annual inflation rates in the EU were observed in Ireland (one per cent), Slovenia (1.2 per cent) and Greece (1.4 per cent), and the highest in Estonia (5.6 per cent), Latvia (4.6 per cent) and the UK (4.5 per cent).

Compared with this July, annual inflation fell in 13 member states, remained stable in two and rose in 12.