That dollar amount reflects a 33.6% increase compared to $2.83 billion five years earlier in 2020.
Year over year, Maltese export sales advanced by 9.1% from $3.47 billion during 2023.
Based on the average exchange rate for 2024, Malta uses the euro which flatlined via a 0.02% gain against the US dollar from 2023 to 2024. The slightly stronger European Union currency made Maltese exports paid for in weaker US dollars modestly more expensive for international buyers.
Malta’s top 5 most valuable exported products are electronic integrated circuits or microassemblies, medication mixes in dosage, processed petroleum oils, unused stamps, then fish fillets and pieces. Combined, that quintet of major Maltese exports accounts for over half (55.4%) of Malta’s overall product sales on international markets. Such a high percentage suggests a highly concentrated portfolio of exported products.
Malta’s Best Exports Customers
The latest available country-specific data shows that 63.4% of products exported from Malta was bought by importers in: Germany (22.4% of the Maltese total), United States of America (7.7%), Italy (5.4%), Japan (4.9%), Singapore (4.5%), Greece (3.9%), United Kingdom (3.4%), Hong Kong (3.1%), Türkiye (2.3%), Netherlands (2.04%), France (2%) and Spain (1.9%).
From a continental perspective, 54.1% of Malta’s exports by value was delivered to fellow European countries while 24.8% were sold to importers in Asia. Malta shipped another 9.35% worth of goods to buyers in Africa.
Smaller percentages went to customers in North America (9.32%), Latin America (1.3%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, then Oceania (1.1%) mostly Australia and New Zealand.
Given Malta’s population of 553,000 people, its total $3.78 billion in 2024 exports translates to roughly $6,800 for every resident in the small island country. That dollar metric exceeds the average $6,400 per capital one year earlier during 2023.
Malta’s Top 10 Exports
The following export product groups garnered the highest dollar value in Maltese global shipments during 2024. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Malta.
- Electrical machinery, equipment: US$1.1 billion (29.8% of total exports)
- Pharmaceuticals: $459 million (12.1%)
- Mineral fuels including oil: $381.4 million (10.1%)
- Books, newspapers, pictures: $348.5 million (9.2%)
- Fish: $196.4 million (5.2%)
- Aircraft, spacecraft: $191.4 million (5.1%)
- Machinery including computers: $161.1 million (4.3%)
- Toys, games: $123.7 million (3.3%)
- Optical, technical, medical apparatus: $111.5 million (2.9%)
- Miscellaneous food preparations: $108.6 million (2.9%)
Malta’s top 10 export categories generated 84.9% of the overall value of its global shipments.
Aircraft and spacecraft represents the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 212.9% from 2023 to 2024.
In second place for improving export sales was the mineral fuels including oil grouping via a 104.6% upturn.
Malta’s shipments of toys and games: posted the third-fastest gain in value, up by 16.8%.
The leading decliner among Malta’s top 10 export categories was electrical machinery and equipment, recording a -8.1% year-over-year drop.
The above listed product categories are at the four-digit Harmonized Tariff System (HTS) code level.
Drilling down to the more detailed HTS codes, Malta’s most valuable export products are electronic integrated circuits or microassemblies (22.4% of the Maltese total), medication mixes in dosage (12.1%), processed petroleum oils (9.1%), unused stamps (8.1%), fish fillets and pieces (3.7%), aircraft and spacecraft (3.6%), lower-voltage switches or fuses (3.3%), models, puzzles and miscellaneous toys (also 3.3%), miscellaneous food preparations (2%), then items made from vulcanized rubber (also 2%).
Products Generating Malta’s Largest Trade Surpluses
The following types of Maltese product shipments represent positive net exports or a trade balance surplus. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports.
In a nutshell, net exports represent the amount by which foreign spending on a home country’s goods or services exceeds or lags the home country’s spending on foreign goods or services.
- Books, newspapers, pictures: US$318.7 million (Down by -0.6% since 2023)
- Toys, games: $80.6 million (Up by 28.1%)
- Fish: $76.6 million (Reversing a -$484,000 deficit)
- Rubber, rubber articles: $50.1 million (Down by -14.5%)
- Miscellaneous food preparations: $33.2 million (Up by 48.3%)
- Knit or crochet fabric: $23.9 million (Down by -12.8%)
- Woodpulp: $4 million (Up by 45.5%)
- Silk: $114,000 (Reversing a -$147,000 deficit)
- Wool: $91,000 (Down by -15.7%)
- Live animals: $60,000 (Down by -73.5%)
Malta has highly positive net exports in the international trade of printed books, newspapers and pictures. In turn, these cashflows indicate Malta’s strong competitive advantages under the books, newspapers and pictures category.
Products Causing Malta’s Worst Trade Deficits
Malta incurred an overall -US$4.9 billion trade deficit during 2024, falling by -7.2% from -$5.3 billion in red ink in 2023.
Below are exports from Malta that result in negative net exports or product trade balance deficits. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on home country Malta’s goods trail Maltese importer spending on foreign products.
- Mineral fuels including oil: -US$1.6 billion (Up by 39.4% since 2023)
- Ships, boats: -$1.2 billion (Up by 84.4%)
- Machinery including computers: -$374.5 million (Up by 3.3%)
- Vehicles: -$372.2 million (Down by -13.9%)
- Aircraft, spacecraft: -$286 million (Down by -44%)
- Paper, paper items: -$143.9 million (Down by -2.9%)
- Furniture, bedding, lighting, signs, prefab buildings: -$141.7 million (Down by -6.7%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: -$135.7 million (Down by -13.5%)
- Meat: -$114.3 million (Up by 19.6%)
- Beverages, spirits, vinegar: -$111.8 million (Up by 3.2%)
Historically, Malta has highly negative net exports and therefore deep international trade deficits for refined petroleum oils, electrical energy, and petroleum gases under the mineral fuels-related product category.
Malta’s Export Companies
Given how small Malta is, it should come as no surprise that not one Maltese corporation ranks among Forbes Global 2000.
Wikipedia does list Maltese companies that engage in international trade. Selected examples are shown below:
- Air Malta plc (airliner)
- Emmanuel Delicata (wine)
- Simonds Farsons Cisk plc (beverages including beer)
In macroeconomic terms, Malta’s total exported goods represent 9.3% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2024 ($40.5 billion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 9.3% for exports to overall GDP in PPP for 2024 compares to 10.1% for 2023. Those percentages suggest a relatively decreasing reliance on products sold on international markets for Malta’s total economic performance, albeit based on a short timeframe.
Another key indicator of a country’s economic performance is its unemployment rate. Malta’s unemployment rate averaged 3.117% for 2024, down from an average 3.483% in 2023 according to International Monetary Fund metrics.
Malta’s capital city is Valletta, the smallest national capital in the European Union.
See also Malta’s Top Trading Partners, Germany’s Top Trading Partners, Italy’s Top Trading Partners, France’s Top Trading Partners and Japan’s Top Trading Partners
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Europe: Malta. Accessed on July 30, 2025
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on July 30, 2025
International Monetary Fund, Exchange Rates selected indicators (Domestic Currency per U.S. dollar, period average). Accessed on July 30, 2025
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on July 30, 2025
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on July 30, 2025
Wikipedia, Gross domestic product. Accessed on July 30, 2025
Wikipedia, List of Companies of Malta. Accessed on July 30, 2025
Wikipedia, Malta. Accessed on July 30, 2025
Wikipedia, Purchasing power parity. Accessed on July 30, 2025
X-rates.com, Exchange Rates: Euro to US Dollar (monthly average 2024)