A trade deficit of €182.9 million was recorded in January in provisional figures published by the National Statistics Office.
A deficit of €227.4 million had been registered in same month in 2018.
Both imports and exports experienced decreases of €46.4 million and €1.9 million, respectively.
The decrease in the value of imports was primarily due to mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials (€100.2 million). It was partly outweighed by an increase of €40.1 million in machinery and transport equipment.
On the exports side mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials (€29.2 million) accounted to the main decrease, partly offset by increases of €16.7 million in miscellaneous manufactured articles and €13.3 million in food.
Imports from the European Union reached €221.8 million, or 49.6% of total imports. There was a decrease of €134.9 million in imports from euro area countries when compared to the same month in 2018.
Main increases and decreases in imports were registered from Saudi Arabia (€14.1 million) and Spain (€36.5 million).
With respect to exports, the main increase was directed to the United States of America (€21 million), whereas Italy (€21.5 million) registered the highest decrease.