​International Trade in Goods: November 2019

09 January 2020 | 1100 hrs | 002/2020

Provisional fi gures for registered trade in goods in Malta recorded a trade defi cit of €131.4 million during November 2019.

International Trade in Goods: November 2019

Cut-off date:

2 January 2020

Data in this news release presents all international trade in goods registered up to the indicated cut-off date (refer to methodological notes). Provisional data for registered international trade recorded a trade deficit of €131.4 million during November 2019, compared to a deficit of €241.5 million in the corresponding month of 2018. Imports experienced a decrease of €47.6 million while exports registered an increase of €62.6 million (Table 1). The decrease in the value of imports was primarily due to machinery and transport equipment (€36.4 million). On the exports side, chemicals (€44.2 million) and miscellaneous manufactured articles (€17.9 million) accounted for the main increase (Table 2).

January-November 2019

During the fi rst eleven months of the reference year, the trade defi cit widened by €813.7 million when compared to the corresponding period of 2018, reaching €3,661.2 million. Both imports and exports increased by €1,008.1 million and €194.4 million respectively (Table 1). Higher imports were recorded mainly in machinery and transport equipment (€1,020.2 million) and chemicals (€69.9 million), partly outweighed by a decrease of €109.5 million in mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials. The main increases in exports were registered in chemicals (€116.5 million), miscellaneous manufactured articles (€96.5 million) and machinery and transport equipment (€47.2 million), partly outweighed by a decrease of €58.7 million in mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials (Table 2).

For the same reference period, imports from the European Union reached €4,510.5 million, or 65.8 per cent of total imports. There was a decrease of €368.7 million in imports from euro area countries when compared to the same period in 2018. Main increases and decreases in imports were registered from the United Kingdom (€849.1 million) and Italy (€226.9 million) respectively. With respect to exports, the main increase was directed to Germany (€46.0 million), whereas Italy (€54.3 million) registered the highest decrease (Table 3) 

Chart 1. International Trade in Goods - monthly

1,200

1,000

million€	800
600

400

200

0

J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M A M J J A S O N

2016	2017		2018	2019
			year
		Trade Deficit	Imports	Exports

Compiled by: Trade Statistics Unit	1
Contact us: National Statistics Office, Lascaris, Valletta VLT 2000
T. [phone], E. [e-mail]
https://twitter.com/NSOMALTA/		https://www.facebook.com/nsomalta/

Table 1. Trade in goods by period and broad economic category

						€ million
Broad economic category	2017p	2018p	November	January-November
2018p	2019p	2018p	2019p
Imports	6,125.3	6,278.6	504.6	457.0	5,846.2	6,854.3
Industrial Supplies	1,322.9	1,470.3	140.7	118.9	1,367.2	1,519.8
Primary	126.3	125.7	26.9	22.8	119.5	112.8
Semi-Finished	1,011.1	1,139.1	101.1	88.3	1,055.1	1,223.4
Finished	185.5	205.4	12.7	7.7	192.5	183.6
Capital Goods and Others	1,680.4	1,401.5	70.0	48.4	1,335.2	2,291.2
Consumer Goods	1,350.3	1,472.4	123.7	124.1	1,357.2	1,390.2
Food and Beverages	530.7	548.5	46.4	43.3	508.5	503.3
Durable Goods	469.4	496.1	43.2	43.0	456.2	491.8
Others	350.1	427.8	34.0	37.7	392.4	395.0
Fuels and Lubricants	1,771.7	1,934.5	170.3	165.7	1,786.7	1,653.2
Exports	3,693.1	3,324.4	263.1	325.7	2,998.7	3,193.1
of which:
Exports of Fuels and	1,419.9	986.6	50.0	52.7	916.5	882.0
Lubricants
Balance of Trade	-2,432.2	-2,954.2	-241.5	-131.4	-2,847.5	-3,661.2

• Provisional Notes:
• 1. Table 1 is based on the United Nations Statistical Division BEC codes (Broad Economic Categories). Figures for 'Fuels and Lubricants' refer to BEC 0031 and BEC 0032; 'Fuels and lubricants, primary' and 'Fuels and lubricants, processed' respectively.
  2. Totals may not add up due to rounding.
  3. A disaggregation by quarter is available on the excel version of this news release:
     https://nso.gov.mt/en/News_Releases/View_by_Unit/Unit_A4/International_Trade/Pages/International-Trade-in-Goods.aspx

major commodity group

Chart 2. Percentage distribution of trade in goods in November 2019

by major commodity group

Machinery and Transport Equipment					19.7	24.4
Mineral Fuels, Lubricants and related materials					17.0				36.3
Chemicals			10.2			26.2
Miscellaneous Manufactured Articles			10.8		19.1
Food			9.0	13.2
Semi-Manufactured Goods		2.9	6.6
Beverages and Tobacco		1.1
	2.5
Other Commodities not Mentioned		0.4
	0.7
0	5	10	15	20	25	30	35	40
					per cent

Exports Imports

Notes:

1. The commodity breakdown is in accordance with the Standard International Trade Classification (SITC) Rev. 3.
2. "Other Commodities not Mentioned" includes the commodity groups "Miscellaneous Transactions and Commodities", "Animal and Vegetable Oils and Fats" and "Crude Materials".
3. Totals may not add up due to rounding.

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Table 2. Balance of trade in goods by period and major commodity groups

						€ million
Major commodity group	2017p	2018p	November	January-November
2018p	2019p	2018p	2019p
Imports	6,125.3	6,278.6	504.6	457.0	5,846.2	6,854.3
Food	625.0	628.6	67.3	60.4	589.4	554.3
Beverages and Tobacco	95.9	112.3	9.0	11.6	100.9	119.3
Crude Materials	26.2	27.4	2.4	2.3	25.3	33.9
Mineral Fuels, Lubricants and related materials	1,775.0	1,947.0	170.3	165.7	1,796.6	1,687.1
Animal and Vegetable Oils and Fats	9.3	9.6	0.7	0.7	9.0	8.9
Chemicals	521.5	603.0	44.2	46.4	556.5	626.4
Semi-Manufactured Goods	361.3	413.0	33.9	30.1	385.0	393.0
Machinery and Transport Equipment	2,236.2	2,005.0	126.6	90.2	1,893.9	2,914.1
Miscellaneous Manufactured Articles	469.7	527.5	49.2	49.3	484.8	513.2
Miscellaneous Transactions and Commodities	5.3	5.2	1.0	0.3	4.9	4.2
Exports	3,693.1	3,324.4	263.1	325.7	2,998.7	3,193.1
Food	268.9	229.3	24.6	29.2	138.8	148.2
Beverages and Tobacco	38.6	44.6	3.2	3.6	40.0	42.6
Crude Materials	13.4	13.3	0.6	1.1	12.1	9.6
Mineral Fuels, Lubricants and related materials	1,469.1	1,048.6	54.3	55.3	970.3	911.6
Animal and Vegetable Oils and Fats	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Chemicals	383.1	387.0	41.2	85.4	354.4	470.9
Semi-Manufactured Goods	150.7	153.7	11.1	9.3	147.1	129.5
Machinery and Transport Equipment	987.8	956.8	83.3	79.5	887.1	934.3
Miscellaneous Manufactured Articles	380.7	488.8	44.2	62.1	447.3	543.8
Miscellaneous Transactions and Commodities	0.8	2.5	0.7	0.1	1.6	2.5
Balance of Trade	-2,432.2	-2,954.2	-241.5	-131.4	-2,847.5	-3,661.2
Food	-356.1	-399.3	-42.7	-31.2	-450.6	-406.1
Beverages and Tobacco	-57.3	-67.7	-5.7	-8.0	-60.9	-76.6
Crude Materials	-12.9	-14.1	-1.9	-1.2	-13.2	-24.3
Mineral Fuels, Lubricants and related materials	-305.9	-898.4	-116.0	-110.5	-826.2	-775.4
Animal and Vegetable Oils and Fats	-9.3	-9.6	-0.7	-0.7	-9.0	-8.9
Chemicals	-138.4	-216.1	-3.1	39.0	-202.1	-155.5
Semi-Manufactured Goods	-210.6	-259.3	-22.8	-20.8	-237.9	-263.5
Machinery and Transport Equipment	-1,248.3	-1,048.2	-43.4	-10.6	-1,006.9	-1,979.8
Miscellaneous Manufactured Articles	-89.0	-38.7	-5.0	12.8	-37.4	30.6
Miscellaneous Transactions and Commodities	-4.5	-2.7	-0.3	-0.2	-3.3	-1.7

p Provisional

Notes:

1. The commodity breakdown is in accordance with the Standard International Trade Classification (SITC) Rev. 3.
2. Totals may not add up due to rounding.

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Table 3. Direction of trade in goods by period and country/region

												€ million
			November					January-November
Country/Region		2018p			2019p			2018p			2019p
Arrivals/	Dispatches/	Balance of	Arrivals/	Dispatches/	Balance of	Arrivals/	Dispatches/	Balance of	Arrivals/	Dispatches/	Balance of
	Imports	Exports	Trade	Imports	Exports	Trade	Imports	Exports	Trade	Imports	Exports	Trade
Europe	337.2	121.2	-216.0	333.3	119.8	-213.5	4,245.6	1,483.6	-2,762.1	5,148.7	1,565.1	-3,583.6
of which:
European Union	297.0	117.9	-179.1	297.4	113.0	-184.5	3,865.1	1,398.1	-2,467.0	4,510.5	1,502.7	-3,007.8
of which:
United Kingdom	28.0	4.4	-23.5	24.4	2.8	-21.6	475.2	56.0	-419.2	1,324.3	53.2	-1,271.1
euro area	249.5	88.2	-161.3	258.6	87.9	-170.7	3,190.4	1,136.3	-2,054.1	2,821.7	1,195.1	-1,626.6
of which:
Italy	118.3	21.0	-97.3	126.9	11.4	-115.5	1,352.2	314.5	-1,037.8	1,125.3	260.2	-865.1
Greece	27.2	0.5	-26.7	38.0	0.5	-37.5	229.2	7.8	-221.5	194.4	19.3	-175.1
France	24.2	17.3	-6.9	27.6	19.4	-8.2	277.9	248.1	-29.8	395.2	256.4	-138.8
Germany	34.3	31.3	-3.0	21.1	40.7	19.6	413.0	399.3	-13.6	453.7	445.3	-8.4
Spain	18.2	3.3	-14.9	14.0	7.8	-6.3	289.6	47.2	-242.4	238.0	84.1	-153.9
Netherlands	13.9	8.3	-5.7	13.2	4.1	-9.1	280.3	71.6	-208.7	188.6	64.0	-124.6
EFTA Countries	3.6	1.4	-2.1	3.0	3.5	0.5	48.2	21.5	-26.8	53.6	25.9	-27.7
of which:
Switzerland	3.5	1.1	-2.3	2.8	3.1	0.3	34.9	16.4	-18.5	36.3	22.4	-13.9
Other European Countries	36.6	1.9	-34.8	32.8	3.3	-29.5	332.3	64.0	-268.3	584.5	36.5	-548.0
of which:
Turkey	13.0	1.5	-11.5	23.6	2.6	-21.1	176.1	29.4	-146.7	296.0	28.3	-267.7
Asia	85.9	55.4	-30.5	63.7	89.4	25.7	875.4	470.2	-405.2	947.5	565.0	-382.5
of which:		2.4		24.6	4.2			31.3		250.5	33.7
China	17.6	-15.2	-20.4	207.0	-175.7	-216.8
India	14.2	0.8	-13.3	14.5	1.5	-12.9	133.0	10.8	-122.2	146.0	15.7	-130.3
Japan	3.5	12.9	9.4	5.6	13.3	7.7	64.5	74.9	10.4	51.7	85.3	33.6
South Korea	3.9	0.0	-3.9	2.7	3.8	1.1	40.9	14.4	-26.5	38.2	47.4	9.2
Hong Kong	2.1	9.8	7.7	2.3	8.6	6.3	25.8	102.8	76.9	23.9	102.9	79.0
North and Central America	20.7	14.9	-5.8	8.2	12.0	3.8	258.6	164.6	-94.0	230.0	168.3	-61.7
of which:
United States of America	8.3	12.4	4.1	7.3	9.8	2.5	136.1	135.1	-1.0	138.2	143.3	5.1
Canada	12.3	1.4	-10.9	0.6	1.2	0.6	120.4	18.2	-102.3	86.4	14.8	-71.6
Africa	56.4	34.4	-22.1	25.3	44.5	19.2	247.4	409.7	162.3	150.9	378.7	227.8
of which:
Tunisia	23.0	2.7	-20.3	7.8	1.2	-6.7	33.1	44.5	11.5	18.4	16.3	-2.1
Australia and Oceania	3.0	1.3	-1.7	0.4	0.6	0.1	16.2	5.5	-10.8	113.3	5.6	-107.7
South America	1.4	3.5	2.1	3.3	0.2	-3.1	52.6	46.2	-6.3	23.4	24.0	0.6
Caribbean and Bahamas Islands	0.0	0.7	0.7	22.9	0.6	-22.3	150.0	3.6	-146.4	240.3	6.0	-234.3
Ships and Aircraft Stores	0.0	31.8	31.8	-	58.7	58.7	0.3	415.3	415.0	0.2	480.4	480.2
Grand Total	504.6	263.1	-241.5	457.0	325.7	-131.4	5,846.2	2,998.7	-2,847.5	6,854.3	3,193.1	-3,661.2

• Provisional Notes:
• 1. Ranking is based according to top countries of import for the current month under review.
  2. Arrivals/Dispatches relate to registered transactions with EU Member States.
  3. Imports/Exports relate to registered transactions with Non-EU Member States (see methodological notes for country groupings).
  4. Totals may not add up due to rounding.
  5. Data for the full list of countries is available on the excel version of this news release:
     https://nso.gov.mt/en/News_Releases/View_by_Unit/Unit_A4/International_Trade/Pages/International-Trade-in-Goods.aspx

Table 4. Trade in goods by period and principal traded commodities

€ 000

Chapter			November	January-November
Commodity description	2018p	2019p	2018p	2019p
number
		Main imports
2	Meat and edible offal	5,567	5,357	57,503	56,290
3	Fish and crustaceans, etc.	25,499	21,028	146,374	112,100
4	Dairy produce; birds' eggs	4,541	4,050	50,104	48,489
8	Edible fruit and nuts	3,069	2,551	36,630	35,347
10	Cereals	2,569	2,711	16,722	17,832
16	Preparations of meat/fish	3,739	4,904	49,166	49,095
19	Preparations of cereals	6,048	5,000	60,984	59,901
22	Beverages, spirits and vinegar	7,150	6,386	72,154	78,006
24	Tobacco and manufactured tobacco substitutes	1,881	5,305	29,539	42,047
25	Salt/sulphur/earths/plastering materials and cement	3,251	3,167	28,598	36,656
27	Mineral fuels, oils and products	170,131	165,744	1,797,923	1,690,877
28	Inorganic chemicals and compounds	314	406	4,602	5,138
29	Organic chemicals	4,405	5,061	80,797	161,500
30	Pharmaceutical products	20,592	21,472	235,107	220,296
32	Tanning/dyeing extracts and paints	2,959	3,062	42,972	47,053
33	Essential oils and toilet preparations	3,171	4,023	37,505	39,201
39	Plastics and articles of plastics	12,657	12,760	156,893	159,742
48	Paper and paperboard articles	6,359	6,573	89,626	94,993
61	Knitted clothing	7,631	6,370	61,093	71,447
62	Woven clothing	4,638	4,616	49,891	50,363
64	Footwear, gaiters etc.and parts	3,179	3,537	47,660	55,204
71	Pearls, precious stones/metals and imitation jewellery	5,419	3,540	25,254	26,936
73	Articles of iron or steel	5,678	4,481	67,053	61,194
84	Machinery and mechanical appliances	32,687	21,158	401,993	354,340
85	Electrical machinery etc.	60,269	48,266	481,795	533,325
87	Vehicles (excluding trains) and parts thereof	13,154	16,307	162,555	185,778
88	Aircraft/spacecraft and parts thereof	17,616	2,856	446,749	445,545
90	Optical/photographic/cinematographic instruments	7,663	9,240	86,043	73,563
94	Furniture; bedding, etc.	6,551	5,528	64,344	67,069
95	Toys, games and sports requisites	2,629	2,626	25,196	25,516
			Main exports
3	Fish and crustaceans, etc.	12,488	14,422	74,500	84,750
21	Miscellaneous edible preparations	11,039	14,043	54,097	54,930
27	Mineral fuels, oils and products	54,132	55,162	968,744	910,819
29	Organic chemicals	10,846	53,557	33,431	123,899
30	Pharmaceutical products	24,123	24,119	269,359	272,628
33	Essential oils and toilet preparations	1,356	2,235	13,855	19,097
39	Plastics and articles of plastics	7,715	7,346	65,136	79,096
40	Rubber and articles of rubber	4,148	4,956	58,891	54,088
49	Printed books, newspapers	10,198	28,320	119,007	179,763
60	Knitted/crocheted fabrics	2,470	1,968	24,065	21,892
64	Footwear, gaiters etc.and parts	2,363	2,366	18,280	26,842
71	Pearls, precious stones/metals and imitation jewellery	1,632	1,911	7,972	13,346
84	Machinery and mechanical appliances	17,177	10,012	144,579	177,331
85	Electrical machinery etc.	60,584	55,529	631,302	603,351
88	Aircraft/spacecraft and parts thereof	4,622	11,795	99,500	145,183
89	Ships, boats and floating structures	3	2,021	3,178	5,041
90	Optical/photographic/cinematographic instruments	9,458	7,452	83,756	73,485
95	Toys, games and sports requisites	11,054	13,923	132,680	144,951
99	Special classifications	2,404	2,760	28,926	32,552

• Provisional Notes:
• 1. Table 4 is based on the World Customs Organisations Harmonised System (HS) codes. Figures for chapter 27 include 'Industrial supplies, primary' and 'Industrial supplies, processed'.
  2. Data for the full list of chapters is available on the excel version of this news release:
     https://nso.gov.mt/en/News_Releases/View_by_Unit/Unit_A4/International_Trade/Pages/International-Trade-in-Goods.aspx
  3. Totals may not add up due to rounding.

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Methodological Notes

1. Figures presented in this news release are based on register data available as at the cut-off date printed on the front page of this release. These are provisional figures based on information provided by traders and customs declarations on a monthly basis. Regular revisions to monthly and annual trade data may be carried out for up to two (2) years after the reference period. No estimations are included in these figures to compensate for late or non-response by traders or late documentation of customs declarations.
2. Data in this release are based on:
3. 1. The Intrastat Supplementary Declaration that traders in merchandise goods must submit in respect of arrivals (imports) and dispatches (exports) of goods from and to the Member States of the European Union (EU) in compliance with Legal Notice 131 of 2004, and
   2. The Customs Declarations for imports from and exports to countries that are not Member States of the EU.
4. The Intrastat Supplementary Declaration for the collection of data on trade in goods between the Member States of the EU replaced the Customs Declaration as from 1 May 2004. The requirements of the Supplementary Declaration, which at EU level were introduced as from 1 January 1993, are similar in all the Member States of the EU.
5. As from May 2004, with the introduction of the Intrastat Supplementary Declaration as the source document for trade statistics, it was no longer possible to disaggregate total exports into domestic exports and re-exports.
6. The 'Balance of Trade' is the difference between a country's exports and imports. A country has a trade deficit if it imports more than it exports; the opposite scenario signifies a trade surplus.
7. National concepts differ from the harmonised methodology used by Eurostat, leading to differences between figures in this release and those published by Eurostat. Malta uses the "General Trade" system for dissemination purposes in line with UN recommendations. On the other hand, monthly data sent to Eurostat for both Intra-EU and Extra-EU are compiled according to the "Special Trade" methodology. A more detailed explanation of these two concepts can be found in the "Statistical Concepts" link below.
8. i. Up to 31 December 2014, the euro area included Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia (from 2014), Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain. From 1 January 2015, the euro area also includes Lithuania. Trade data for Lithuania is included with the euro area data as from reference month January 2015.
9. 1. The European Union includes Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia (from July 2013), Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
   2. EFTA (European Free Trade Association) countries comprise Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.
10. More detailed and disaggregated data not appearing in this release is available in the excel version of this release or upon request from the NSO.
11. More information relating to this news release may be accessed at:

Sources and Methods:

https://nso.gov.mt/en/nso/Sources_and_Methods/Unit_A4/International_Trade/Pages/External-Trade-Statistics.aspx

Statistical Concepts:http://nso.gov.mt/metadata/concepts.aspx

Metadata:http://nso.gov.mt/metadata/reports.aspx?id=7

Classification:http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/ramon/index.cfm?

1. References to this news release are to be cited appropriately.
2. A detailed news release calendar is available on:
   https://nso.gov.mt/en/News_Releases/Release_Calendar/Pages/News-Release-Calendar.aspx

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