Malta registered a trade deficit of €298.1 million in September 2017 up by €93.5 million when compared to the same month last year, according to preliminary figures released by the National Statistics Office.

The NSO said imports increased by €14.8 million, while exports showed a decrease of €78.7 million. Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials accounted for both the increase in the value of imports and the main decline in the value of exports.

During the first nine months this year, the trade deficit widened by €356.3 million when compared to the corresponding period last year, reaching €2,588.5 million.

Both imports and exports showed decreases of €547.1 million and €903.3 million respectively. Lower imports were mainly due to machinery and transport equipment. The main decreases in exports were registered in chemicals and mineralfuels, lubricants and related materials.

Malta’s trade imports from the European Union reached €2,421.1 million, or 53.2 per cent of total imports. There was a decrease of €53.5 million in imports from euro area countries when compared to the same period last year.

Main increases and decreases in imports were registered from the Russian Federation (€120.6 million) and Canada (€304.1 million) respectively. The main increase in exports was directed to Spain (€9.2 million), whereas the United States of America (€595.7 million) registered the highest decrease.

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