VIENNA, Augmegabingoonline. 8 (Xinhua) -- Austria's foreign trade continued its lackluster performance in May, with the exports dropping by 9.9 percent year-on-year and imports declining by 13.3 percent, Statistics Austria said on Thursday.

The country's exports in May stood at 15.31 billion euros (16.74 billion U.S. dollars), logging a monthly trade surplus of 2.5 million euros.

The country's four most important export products -- machinery and vehicles, processed goods, chemical products and other manufactured goods -- showed an annual decrease of 8 percent in their combined export volume in May.

Tobias Thomas, director-general of Statistics Austria, noted that despite the continued weak performance in foreign trade volume in May, the country's trade balance has been positive for the eighth consecutive month.

In the first five months of this year, Austria's imports slumped by 12.6 percent and its exports declined by 5.2 percent compared to the same period last year. The country's trade surplus stood at 2.56 billion euros from January to May, in contrast to a deficit of 4.32 billion euros in the same period last year. (1 euro = 1.09 U.S. dollar)■