International Economic and Financial Transactions: Q4/2025
Provisional figures for Malta’s external transactions indicate that, between October and December 2025, the current account surplus increased to €559.1 million from €90.3 million in the corresponding quarter of 2024. This outcome was mainly driven by a surplus in the services account (€1,865.7 million), which was partly offset by deficits in the primary income account (€712.6 million), goods account (€515.3 million) and secondary income account (€78.7 million).
Over the same period, the capital account registered a surplus of €89.2 million, reflecting a decrease of €17.0 million compared to the fourth quarter of 2024.
The net amount recorded in the financial account amounted to €774.2 million, representing an increase of €459.4 million over the same period a year earlier. These movements were driven by net asset increases in direct investment (€2,670.6 million), portfolio investment (€2,220.5 million), and financial derivatives (€7.4 million), which were partly offset by a net decrease in other investment (€4,083.7 million). Reserve assets fell by €40.6 million during the same period (Table 1).
Tables
Tables
Methodological Notes
1. The National Statistics Office (NSO), with the cooperation of the Central Bank of Malta (CBM), is responsible for the collection, compilation and presentation of both the Balance of Payments (BOP) as well as the International Investment Position (IIP) statements of Malta. Both statements are compiled in accordance with the international guidelines set in the sixth manual of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as well as with the similarly-set methodological guidelines established by Eurostat.
2. Different data sources have been used in the compilation of the figures presented in this release. The main sources used include: (a) enterprise transactions data collected by the Commissioner for Revenue, which are then complemented with survey data; (b) customs data and INTRASTAT declarations, which are used as a source for merchandise transactions; (c) TOURSTAT and other administrative sources, which are used to compile data for the travel account; and (d) data published by the Bank for International Settlements, which advanced efforts to capture data on the household sector. These sources cover transactions relating to the current account, the capital account and the financial account.
3. The majority of the transactions that are collected through the above-mentioned sources are broken down by country. Survey data are important for breakdowns at country level but the availability of new data sources made it possible to micro-link different databases and improve the geographical breakdown of the re-invested earnings and property income paid to the rest of the world.
4. The data are compiled using a standard format and published at a quarterly frequency.
5. The data in this news release do not necessarily correspond to the latest published National Accounts data for the same reference period. This is due to different cut-off dates for the two sets of data.
6. Revisions are conducted on a quarterly basis with the previous data remaining subject to revision.
7. Adjustments for exports and imports of goods are made for BOP and National Accounts purposes, since merchandise trade data include imports and exports of oil made by non-resident companies having a Maltese VAT number. These are not considered as BOP transactions. Consequently, such imports and exports are being subtracted from the totals. Where necessary, oil imports by Maltese resident companies are imputed.
8. Figures are not seasonally adjusted and may not add up due to rounding.
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International Economic and Financial Transactions: Q4/2025
- Provisional data on Malta’s external transactions indicate that between October and December 2025, the current account recorded a surplus of €559.1 million, up from €90.3 million in the same period a year earlier.
- This surplus was primarily driven by a positive balance in the services account (€1,865.7 million).
- The financial account recorded total net asset transactions of €774.2 million, including €2,670.6 million in direct investment.
