Malta’s imports from Israel double as mineral fuel purchases surge

Malta’s imports from Israel more than doubled during the first six months of 2026, with data provided by the National Statistics Office (NSO) showing that the biggest increase was concentrated in mineral fuels.

Imports from Israel reached €147.8 million between January and June, up from €73.4 million during the same period in 2025 – an increase of €74.3 million, or just over 100 per cent. This was the largest increase in imports recorded from any individual country during the period.

Following questions from BusinessNow.mt over what was behind the increase, the NSO provided a breakdown indicating that a significant part of the movement was linked to Chapter 27, covering mineral fuels, mineral oils and products of their distillation.

The figures show that the value of Chapter 27 goods imported from Israel rose from approximately €34.9 million in the first half of 2025 to €138.3 million in the corresponding period this year.

That represents an increase of around €103.4 million, or almost 297 per cent.

The increase in mineral fuel imports was therefore larger than the €74.3 million overall increase in imports from Israel, indicating that declines in other categories partly offset the sharp rise in Chapter 27 goods.

The monthly data show that imports of these products from Israel were recorded at €20.8 million in January 2026, €16.1 million in February, €36.4 million in March, €13.3 million in April, €31.1 million in May and €20.5 million in June.

For comparison, Chapter 27 imports from Israel were significantly lower during most of the corresponding months of 2025, including just €13,764 in January, no recorded imports in February, €20.5 million in March, €630,200 in April and €8,186 in May. They subsequently reached €13.7 million in June.

The NSO's latest international trade figures show that Malta imported €4.41 billion worth of goods overall between January and June 2026, compared with €4.33 billion in the same period last year. Exports increased more strongly, from €2.25 billion to €2.50 billion, resulting in the trade deficit narrowing by €177.4 million to €1.91 billion.

The EU remained Malta's main source of imported goods, accounting for 61.5 per cent, while Asia accounted for 22.8 per cent. The NSO identified Israel as the country recording the largest increase in imports, while the United Kingdom registered the largest decrease, at €67.4 million.