This all comes despite the fact that the sector has been eligible to quite some funding. The NSO report notes that the agricultural sector was assisted through the delivery of a range of financial aid through EU-funded programmes — amounting to €25.4m — which helped the net operating surplus of the sector to increase by 31.4% €71.4m.

The sector’s output increased only by a slight 0.2% to €122.1m, while expenses incurred under intermediate consumption rose by 3.8% to €64.8m. Additionally, consumption of fixed capital increased by 6.4% to a total of €6.8m, while compensation of employees rose by 7.9% to €4.5m on total, according to NSO figures.

“Ultimately, upon adding the latter surplus to the negative net property income of €1.1m recorded in 2018, the net entrepreneurial income of the sector is estimated to have improved by 32.1% to €70.3m,” the NSO report says.

Although, produce coming from secondary agricultural activities has seen growth, it was offset by drops in crop production. Agricultural holdings were up by 7.3%, animal products increased by 1.9% and livestock products grew by 1.6%; while crop production fell by 2.9%, according to NSO figures.

Intermediate consumption, which measures specific expenses incurred during the production processes of the agricultural sector, was mainly marked by increases in livestock feeding expenses, energy and fuel costs by 5.7% and 2.9%, respectively, the NSO report adds.

EDITORIAL NOTE: For further details and representation of data see the NSO’s official report available through its website.

The post Maltese agricultural sector’s GVA falls 3.5% in 2018 first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

Despite recorded increases in the production of consumer goods and capital goods of 4% and 1.9%, respectively; significant drops have been registered in the production of energy (6.6%) and intermediate goods (1.7%).

The index of industrial production adjusted for working days decreased by 1.5%, as compared to the same month a year earlier. Drops were registered in the production of energy (6.6%), production of intermediate goods (3.4%) and the production of consumer goods (0.8%), while the production of capital goods was up by 3.0%, according to NSO figures.

The full report including charts and visual representation of data is available for download at the website of NSO.

The post Malta’s industrial output drops 1.7% in February first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

“Malta’s economic growth for 2018 exceeded expectations since actual real GDP growth was higher than projected by the Ministry for Finance, the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund and various Credit Rating Agencies,” finance minister Mr Scicluna said during a press conference given at the Finance Ministry in Valletta.

“I am pleased to note that our country has been consistently recording historically higher economic growth rates in the last six years as this will ensure that the income of our country reaches the average income of the EU. This would ensure that Maltese and Gozitan families would indeed enjoy a higher standard of living,” the finance minister said.

Malta’s GDP was up by 6.6% in volume terms in 2018, according to figures published by the National Statistics Office (NSO). “Provisional estimates indicate that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for 2018 amounted to €12,320m, an increase of €1,006m or 8.9% when compared to 2017,” the NSO publication says.

The post Finance minister welcomes NSO’s GDP figures first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

Year-on-year growth occurred in the production of energy (39.1%) and capital goods (4.5%), while the production of consumer goods and intermediate goods dropped by 5.7%and 5.2%, respectively, according to data by NSO.

As compared to December 2018, growth was seen in the production of energy (4.0%), intermediate goods (2.4%) and capital goods (0.6%), while the output of consumer goods dropped by 3.9 per cent, the NSO report shows.

The full report including charts and visual representation of data is available for download at the website of NSO.

The post Malta’s industrial output grows y.o.y. 2.8% in January first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.