Malta registered a trade deficit of €334.8 million in August, compared one of €158.5 million in the same month in 2017, according to preliminary figures published by the National Statistics Office.

Provisional data for international trade shows that imports increased by €143.4 million, while exports decreased by €32.9 million. The increase was primarily due to mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials (€85.1 million) and machinery and transport equipment (€41.6 million).

On the exports side, the main decrease was registered in mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials (€38.9 million).

During the first eight months this year, trade deficit increased by €294.1 million when compared to the corresponding period of 2017, reaching €2,069.5 million.

Imports increased by €126.7 million while exports decreased by €167.4 million.

Higher imports were mainly due to an increase of €145.3 million in mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials. With regard to exports, the main decrease was registered in mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials (€239.5 million).

This was partly outweighed by increases of €40.7 million in miscellaneous manufactured articles and €29.7 million in semi-manufactured goods.

Malta’s trade imports from the European Union reached €2,809.1 million, or 67.9% of total imports. There was an increase of €622.1 million in imports from euro area countries when compared to the same period of 2017.

Main increases and decreases in imports were registered from Italy (€176.5 million) and Canada (€145.7 million) respectively.

The main increase in exports was directed to Japan (€28.6 million), whereas Egypt (€75.7 million) registered the highest decrease.