Maltese exports in October experienced a sudden downturn, according to data released by Eurostat.

While exports continued to grow until September, registering an increase of 46 per cent over the same period in 2010, a poor performance in October slashed the country’s year-on-year growth to just five per cent.

According to Eurostat officials, the data could be another indication that the island would be hit by economic problems this year as many EU member states expected to enter a recession.

“Malta’s exports depend mainly on demand from the EU’s main markets and demand is slowing all over the EU,” the officials said.

However, they also noted that the sudden drop was most probably related to fuel re-exports, which make Malta’s statistics very volatile.

“Malta’s trade in fuels (imports and re-exports) is quite high and its trade tends to reflex fluctuations in the island’s statistics,” the officials said.

Eurostat said that between January and October 2011, Malta exported €2.3 billion worth of products, an increase of €100,000 on the previous year.At the same time, imports continued to rise, with an increase of €400,000 in value up to a total of €3.6 billion.