NSO Malta | International Trade in Goods: August 2026

News
Data
Methodology

Salient Points

In August 2026, Malta recorded a provisional trade in goods deficit of €295.7 million.
In August 2026, imports of goods increased by 0.1 per cent while exports of goods increased by 19.0 per cent, when compared with the same month of the previous year.
During January–August 2026, imports from the EU amounted to €3,756.5 million, representing 59.5 per cent of total imports, while exports to the EU reached €1,134.7 million, accounting for 32.6 per cent of total exports.

Commentary

Provisional figures for August 2026 show that Malta registered a trade in goods deficit of €295.7 million, compared with a deficit of €371.8 million in the corresponding month of 2025.

Total Trade in Goods: August 2026

Data in this news release present all international trade in goods registered up to the indicated cut-off date. Provisional figures show a trade in goods deficit of €295.7 million in August 2026, compared to a deficit of €371.8 million recorded in the corresponding month of 2025. Imports amounted to €777.1 million, while exports totalled €481.4 million, representing increases of €0.8 million and €76.9 million, respectively, when compared with August 2025 (Table 1).

The rise in imports was mainly driven by higher imports of Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials (€91.1 million). This was partly offset by lower imports of Machinery and transport equipment (€50.1 million), Chemicals (€36.1 million) and Food (€12.7 million). On the export side, the largest increases were recorded in Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials (€65.1 million) and in Machinery and transport equipment (€26.7 million), partly offset by a decrease in Chemicals (€30.6 million) (Table 3).

Trade Statistics Chart 1

Total Trade in Goods: January-August 2026

During the first eight months of 2026, the trade deficit narrowed by €624.1 million when compared with the corresponding period of 2025, reaching €2,837.5 million. Imports stood at €6,317.3 million, while exports amounted to €3,479.7 million. Compared to the same period of the previous year, imports decreased by €152.2 million and exports increased by €471.9 million, respectively (Table 1).

The decrease in imports was mainly attributable to lower imports of Machinery and transport equipment (€390.6 million), Chemicals (€56.4 million) and Miscellaneous transactions and commodities (€29.6 million). These were partly offset by increases in imports of Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials (€291.4 million) and in Miscellaneous manufactured articles (€34.4 million). On the export side, the main increases were registered in Machinery and transport equipment (€200.0 million), Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials (€194.2 million) and Miscellaneous manufactured articles (€47.7 million) (Table 3).

Goods were imported mainly from the European Union (59.5 per cent) and Asia (20.7 per cent). Similarly, exports were primarily directed towards the European Union (32.6 per cent) and Asia (12.7 per cent). The largest increase in imports was recorded from Belgium (€102.7 million), while imports from France registered the largest decrease (€512.9 million). Exports to Germany recorded the largest increase (€55.4 million), whereas exports to Turkey registered the largest decline (€44.9 million) (Table 4).

Trade in Goods Excluding Specific Chapters¹: August 2026

In August 2026, the deficit in trade in goods excluding specific chapters amounted to €175.2 million, compared to a deficit of €211.3 million recorded in the corresponding month of 2025. Imports stood at €439.6 million, while exports totalled €264.4 million. Compared with August 2025, imports decreased by 4.3 per cent while exports increased by 6.5 per cent (Table 1).

Trade Statistics Chart 2

Trade in Goods Excluding Specific Chapters¹: January-August 2026

During the first eight months of 2026, the deficit in trade in goods excluding specific chapters narrowed by €340.3 million when compared with the corresponding period of 2025, reaching €1,720.3 million. Imports amounted to €3,807.9 million, marking a decrease of 2.7 per cent over the corresponding period of 2025. Exports increased by 12.7 per cent to €2,087.7 million (Table 1).

Imports vs Exports Chart

Imports and Exports Chart

¹ Data excluding Mineral fuels, oils and products (Chapter 27), Aircrafts/spacecrafts and parts thereof (Chapter 88) and Ships, boats and floating structures (Chapter 89). See methodological note 8.
Note: Totals may not add up due to rounding.

Tables

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. Monthly and annual trade data are revised regularly or as necessary. 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:

i. 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 Subsidiary Legislation 406.08, and

ii. The Customs Declarations for imports from and exports to countries that are not Member States of the EU.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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 United Nations 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 (refer to methodological note 13). Consequently, figures published by Eurostat may differ from those published nationally by NSO Malta.

7. i. The euro area (Trading Partners) include Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria (from January 2026), Croatia (from January 2023), Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia (from January 2014), Lithuania (from January 2015), Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain.

ii. The EU (Trading Partners) includes Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia (from July 2013), Cyprus, Czech Republic (Czechia), Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden. As of 1 February 2020, the United Kingdom is no longer part of the EU. The transition period that was in place – during which nothing changed – ended on 31 December 2020.

From the reference period February 2020 onwards, monthly news releases containing country-level data present EU figures excluding the United Kingdom. Users are advised to use data with caution when making comparisons since this will result in discrepancies, unless United Kingdom information is removed from previous figures.

iii. As from 1 January 2021, following the Withdrawal Agreement (Brexit) between the United Kingdom and the EU, Northern Ireland should be considered as part of the EU for International Trade purposes.

iv. EFTA (European Free Trade Association) countries comprise Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

v. Miscellaneous Codes refer to special geographical codes defined in the Eurostat Geonomenclature. These codes are used for transactions involving high seas, stores and provisions, unspecified countries or territories, and partner countries withheld for commercial or military confidentiality reasons. They include the codes QP, QR, QS, QV, QW, QY, and QZ.

(a) High Seas (QP), refers to areas of sea that are not part of the territorial waters of any country. In International Trade in Goods Statistics (ITGS), this code is used for goods supplied to or obtained from vessels and installations operating on the high seas where no specific partner country can be attributed.

(b) Stores and Provisions – Intra-Union Trade (QR), forms part of the official Intra-Union aggregate used by Eurostat. Consequently, values reported under QR should be included when compiling the total Intra-Union trade aggregate but should not be attributed to any individual Member State.

(c) Stores and Provisions – Extra-Union Trade (QS), forms part of the official Extra-EU aggregate used to measure trade between the European Union and non-EU countries. To ensure complete coverage and prevent undervaluation, trade values reported under QS must be added to the non-EU partner country totals when calculating total Extra-EU trade. This treatment is consistent with the Eurostat ITGS framework, which classifies these transactions as occurring within the statistical scope of Extra-EU trade.

(d) Countries and Territories Not Specified (Intra-Union Trade) (QV), is a code used when goods are traded within the European Union, but the specific partner country or territory cannot be identified or allocated at the time of compilation. It enables such transactions to be included in ITGS while preserving the completeness of trade statistics.

(e) Countries and Territories Not Specified (Extra-Union Trade) (QW), is a code used for trade transactions with non-EU countries where the specific partner country or territory cannot be identified or allocated at the time of compilation. It ensures that such transactions are included in ITGS while preserving the completeness of the data.

(f) Countries and Territories Not Specified For Commercial/Military Reasons (Intra-Union Trade) (QY). This code is used for intra-EU trade transactions where the identification of the actual partner country is withheld for commercial or military reasons. The trade is recorded under code QY instead of the true partner country to protect sensitive information while ensuring that the transaction remains included in ITGS.

(g) Countries and Territories Not Specified For Commercial/Military Reasons (Extra-Union Trade) (QZ). This code is used for trade transactions with non-EU countries where the identification of the actual partner country is withheld for commercial or military reasons. The trade is recorded under code QZ instead of the true partner country to protect sensitive information while ensuring that the transaction remains included in ITGS.

vi. Since Stores and Provisions may be influenced by large refuelling or provisioning operations, they are often analysed separately from country-based export flows to provide a clearer picture of underlying trade developments.

vii. Treatment of Special Intra-Union Codes: The special partner codes QR, QV and QY are defined within the European Business Statistics (EBS) framework for intra-Union transactions that cannot be attributed to a specific EU Member State. Although these codes are presented separately under Miscellaneous Codes in this News Release, they form an integral part of total Intra-Union Trade and should therefore be included when compiling overall intra-Union aggregates.

For transparency and analytical purposes, the values associated with QR, QV and QY are shown separately; however, they must be added to the total value of Intra-Union Trade.

Accordingly, the complete Intra-Union Trade aggregate may be derived as follows:
Total Intra-Union Trade = Trade with EU Member States + QR + QV + QY
where Trade with EU Member States represents the sum of trade reported with individually identified EU Member States only.

viii. Treatment of Special Extra-Union Codes: The special codes QP, QS, QW and QZ form part of Extra-Union Trade. Consequently, values reported under these codes should be included in the total Extra-Union Trade aggregates, although they are not allocated to a specific non-EU country or territory. For the purpose of this News Release, these values are shown separately under Miscellaneous Codes. Accordingly:
Total Extra-Union Trade = Trade with identified non-EU countries + QP + QS + QW + QZ

8. As from the publication relating to the January 2021 reference period, the format of the news release changed. The main enhancement was the reporting of statistics which exclude specific chapters, namely Mineral fuels, oils and products (Chapter 27 and CN Code 99302700), Aircrafts/spacecrafts and parts thereof (Chapter 88) and Ships, boats and floating structures (Chapter 89). These are categories which are dominated by one-off transactions that could weigh heavily on the overall headline figures. Therefore, while the official figures remain those for total trade, data excluding these specific chapters is, in many cases, more suitable to analyse underlying economic trends.

9. In April 2023, the Office began an ongoing exercise to improve the coverage and, consequently, the reliability of trade in goods data. The exercise uses administrative sources, particularly VIES and MDE data, to cross-check existing Intrastat declarations. Traders are contacted and reminded of their legal obligation to report intra-EU trade through the Intrastat system, helping to reduce data gaps. To support consistent time series, traders have also been asked, where possible, to provide data dating back to 2022. As this work is ongoing, it may result in larger than usual revisions in the short term.

10. As from the reference period January 2021, Table 3 is based on the Standard International Trade Classification SITC Rev. 4.

11. As from the reference period January 2021, the Caribbean and the Bahamas are included under North and Central America.

12. The percentage change for the Balance of Trade between the current month (y) and the corresponding month of the previous year (x), is calculated using the formula ((y-x)/abs(x))*100. A negative percentage change in the Balance of Trade means that it has widened (deteriorated), while a positive percentage change means that the Balance of Trade has narrowed (improved).

13. More information relating to this news release may be accessed at:

Classifications on Economic Statistics

SITC Rev. 4

Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1926

14. The data contained in this release is subject to revision. For an updated time-series which includes past data, please refer to the Statistical Indicators for this domain.

15. A detailed news release calendar is available online.

16. References to this news release are to be cited appropriately. For guidance on access and re-use of data please visit our dedicated webpage.

17. For further assistance send your request through our online request form.

Salient Points

Commentary

Tables

Methodological Notes

International Trade in Goods

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