Malta was the European country with the largest decrease in exports during the month of August, when compared to the same month of last year.

Eurostat data shows that the export of goods from Malta dropped by nearly 50 per cent throughout the month. 

On Friday, Eurostat said that the COVID-19 pandemic continued to have a significant impact on international trade in goods.

The first estimate for euro area exports of goods to the rest of the world in August of 2020 was of €156.3 billion, a decrease of 12.2 per cent when compared to the same month of 2019.

Imports from the rest of the world stood at €141.6 billion, a fall of 13.5 per cent. As a result, the euro area recorded a €14.7 billion surplus in trade in goods with the rest of the world.

Intra-euro area trade fell to €129.2 billion last August, down by 4.6 per cent when compared with August 2019.

According to Eurostat's data, exports of goods in August 2020, compared to August 2019, decreased for all member states except Slovenia and Slovakia.

The largest decreases were registered in Malta (-48.7 per cent), France (-27.2 per cent), Bulgaria (-25.9 per cent) and Greece (-22 per cent).