News Releases

International Trade in Goods: May 2026

NR 121/2026
Release Date: 10 July 2026
Cut-off Date: 02 July 2026

Birzebbuga,,Malta,-,May,,2021:,Harbor,With,Cranes,,Ships,And
  • Malta recorded a provisional trade in goods deficit of €339.0 million in May 2026.
  • In May 2026, imports and exports of goods increased by 16.4% and 26.6%, respectively, when compared with the same month of the previous year.
  • During January–May 2026, imports from the EU amounted to €2,141.4 million, representing 62.3% of total imports, while exports to the EU reached €659.5 million, accounting for 32.0% of total exports.

International Trade in Goods: May 2026

International Trade in Goods: May 2026

NR 121/2026
Release Date: 10 July 2026
Cut-off Date: 02 July 2026

Provisional figures for May 2026 show that Malta registered a trade in goods deficit of €339.0 million, compared with a deficit of €326.9 million in the corresponding month of 2025.
Birzebbuga,,Malta,-,May,,2021:,Harbor,With,Cranes,,Ships,And

Total Trade in Goods: May 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 €339.0 million in May 2026, compared to a deficit of €326.9 million recorded in the corresponding month of 2025.  Imports amounted to €855.1 million, while exports totalled €516.1 million, representing increases of €120.5 million and €108.4 million, respectively, when compared to May 2025 (Table 1).

The rise in imports was mainly driven by higher imports of Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials (€170.3 million). This was partly offset by lower imports of Machinery and transport equipment (€30.1 million), Chemicals (€8.7 million) and Food (€8.6 million). On the export side, the largest increases were recorded in Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials (€88.7 million) and Machinery and transport equipment (€30.9 million), partly offset by a decrease in Chemicals (€7.2 million) (Table 3).

Total Trade in Goods: January-May 2026

During the first five months of 2026, the trade deficit narrowed by €234.7 million when compared to the corresponding period of 2025, reaching €1,377.4 million. Imports stood at €3,435.7 million, while exports amounted to €2,058.3 million. Compared to the same period of the previous year, imports decreased by €41.9 million, whereas exports increased by €192.8 million (Table 1).

The decline in imports was mainly attributable to lower imports of Machinery and transport equipment (€150.0 million), Chemicals (€31.1 million) and Miscellaneous transactions and commodities (€30.0 million). These decreases were partly offset by higher imports of Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials (€172.8 million). On the export side, the main increases were registered in Machinery and transport equipment (€116.8 million), Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials (€83.5 million) and Food (€17.8 million). These were partly offset by a decrease in Miscellaneous transactions and commodities (€28.9 million) (Table 3).

Trade Statistics Chart 1

Goods were imported mainly from the European Union (62.3 per cent) and Asia (22.2 per cent). Similarly, exports were primarily directed towards the European Union (32.0 per cent) and Asia (11.6 per cent). The largest increase in imports was recorded from the Netherlands (€124.1 million), while imports from France registered the largest decrease (€74.6 million). Exports to Germany recorded the largest increase (€45.8 million), whereas exports to Turkey registered the largest decline (€52.2 million) (Table 4).

Trade in Goods excluding specific chapters1: May 2026

In May 2026, the deficit in trade in goods excluding specific chapters amounted to €219.6 million, compared to a deficit of €263.7 million recorded in the corresponding month of 2025. Imports stood at €476.5 million, while exports totalled €256.9 million. Compared to May 2025, imports decreased by 6.7 per cent, while exports increased by 4.0 per cent (Table 1).

Trade Statistics Chart 2

Trade in Goods excluding specific chapters1: January-May 2026

During the first five months of 2026, the deficit in trade in goods excluding specific chapters narrowed by €281.2 million when compared to the corresponding period of 2025, reaching €1,006.4 million. Imports amounted to €2,242.7 million, marking a decrease of 8.2 per cent over the corresponding period of 2025. Exports increased by 7.1 per cent to €1,236.3 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

Tables

Table 1. Trade in Goods by period and trade flow 

Table 2. Total Trade in Goods by period and Broad Economic Category (BEC)

Table 2a. Total Trade in Goods by quarter and Broad Economic Category (BEC) 

Table 3. Total Trade in Goods by period and major commodity group

Table 4. Direction of Total Trade in Goods by period and continent/region/country

Table 4a. Total imports by period and region/country 

Table 4b. Total exports by period and region/country 

Table 5. Direction of Trade in Goods excluding Specific Chapters by period and continent/region  

Table 6. Total Trade in Goods by period and main trade chapter

Table 6a. Total imports by period and trade chapter 

Table 6b. Total exports by period and trade chapter

All 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. Revisions to monthly and annual trade data may be carried out on a regular basis or as deemed 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).
 
7. i. The euro area (trading partners) includes 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) comprises 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. Stores and Provisions – Intra Community Trade (QR), is an essential component of the official Intra-EU (changing composition) aggregate used to define total trade within the Union. To ensure complete coverage and prevent undervaluation, trade values for this code must be added to the individual Member State totals when calculating the overall aggregate for the European Union. This aggregation is required to align with technical definitions that classify these specific transactions as occurring within the Union’s statistical territory.

vi. Stores and Provisions – Extra Community 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 individual 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.

 

vii. Ships and Aircraft Stores: Supplies of goods to foreign-going ships and aircraft for consumption during voyages or flights are recorded under Ships and Aircraft Stores (or Stores and Provisions). These goods include fuel, lubricants, food, beverages and other operational consumables. Such transactions are recorded as exports and are allocated to a separate geographical category rather than to a specific partner country. This category is shown separately in trade tables and is not attributed to any individual country or region.

Note: Since Ships and Aircraft Stores 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. 

 
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), Aircraft/spacecraft 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 National Statistics Office launched an exercise aimed at enhancing the coverage, and thus reliability, of trade in goods data. This involved using an administrative source, in particular VAT data, to cross-check existing data. Contact was made with traders, reminding them of their legal obligation to record intra-EU trade in the Intrastat system, which is resulting in the narrowing of data gaps. To provide users with consistent time series data, whenever possible, data extending back to 2016 has been requested. This process, which is still ongoing, may lead to larger revisions than usual in the short term.
 
10. As from the reference period January 2021, data in 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 Islands 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:

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.

 
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