Inflation soars as imports drop

Malta’s annual inflation rate rose significantly in June, according to data published yesterday by the EU’s statistics office.

While the eurozone’s annual rate of inflation stood at 2.4 per cent, unchanged from the previous month, Malta’s was almost double that, at 4.4 per cent.

This rate is 0.7 per cent more than May’s and more than one per cent higher compared to June 2011.

Malta and Estonia’s annual rate of inflation in June was the highest among the 17 member states of the eurozone. The two countries are followed by Slovakia, with an inflation rate of 3.7 per cent.

On the other side of the scale, the lowest inflation rates in the eurozone last month were registered by Greece (one per cent) and Spain (1.8 per cent).

Both countries are currently passing through a difficult economic period and had to obtain outside help from the EU and the International Monetary Fund to stay afloat.

According to Eurostat, the main components with the highest price increases in the eurozone in June 2012 were alcohol and tobacco (4.9 per cent), housing (3.7 per cent) and transport (3.1 per cent), which includes fuel.

In another set of statistics published yesterday, Malta registered a six per cent increase in exports during the first four months of the year.

Between January and April, Malta exported a total value of €1.1 billion in products, an increase of €100 million over the same period of 2011.

In contrast, imports declined during the same period by €100 million in value (seven per cent), from €1.5 billion between January and April 2011 to €1.4 billion this year.