Spain: Exports Rise By 1.6% To September

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Spanish exports of goods rose by 1.6% between January and September 2019 on the same period of the previous year, amounting to 215.6 billion euros, a record figure for the period, according to the trade figures declared by Customs, attached to the Ministry of the Treasury.

Imports rose by 2% to 241.05 billion euros. The trade deficit for the period amounted to 25.45 billion euros and the coverage rate stood at 89.4% (down 0.3% on the period January-August 2018).

“Exports continue to grow despite the complex global environment, which indicates the strength of our foreign trade sector”, highlighted the State Secretary for Trade, Xiana Méndez; we are also observing very positive performance in such destination markets as North America and Asia, which strengthens the geographic diversification of international trade, which is one of the goals of the Two-Year Internationalisation Plan 2019-2020 and the Countries with Strategic Sector Actions plans (Spanish acronym: PASE).

Growth in Spanish exports between January and September (up 1.6%) was greater than that of Germany (0.9%), and the United Kingdom (down 0.7%), but less than that of France (up 4.1%), Italy (up 2.5%), the European Union (up 2.4%) and the Eurozone (up 2.2%).

Exports to the European Union (65.8% of the total) grew by 1.6% in the first nine months of the year, while exports to the Eurozone (51.4% of the total) rose by 1.1% and those to the rest of the European Union (14.5%) rose by 3.5%.

Exports to third countries (34.2% of the total) rose by 1.6% in this period, with increases in exports to North America (up 9.5%), Asia excluding the Middle East (up 7.3%) and Africa (up 2.6%). In contrast, exports to the Middle East (down 11.5%), Latin America (down 0.9%) and Oceania (down 0.9%) all fell.

The autonomous regions posting the strongest export growth were Aragon (up 15.3%), Asturias (up 12%) and the Provincial Region of Navarre (up 11.7%). In contrast, the largest decreases were posted by the Balearic Islands (down 9.3%), Castile-Leon (down 5.7%) and Galicia (down 6.1%).

Figures for September

In September, Spanish exports of goods rose by 5.8% on the same month of 2018 to 23.47 billion euros. Compared with August, exports rose by 20.7%.

The increase is greater than that posted in the Eurozone (up 3.2%) and in the European Union (up 3%), France (up 3.7%) and Germany (up 4.6%). The main positive contribution came from the automotive sector (up 2.5%).

The most negative contribution came from the energy products sector (down 0.4%).

Exports to the EU rose in year-on-year terms and accounted for 67.1% of the total (66.8% in September 2018). Exports to the Eurozone rose by 5.2% while those to the rest of the EU rose by 10.2%.

Imports rose by 8.9% in year-on-year terms to 27.73 billion euros. Consequently, a deficit of 4.26 billion euros was recorded and the coverage rate stood at 84.6%. The seasonally-adjusted figures corrected to account for the calendar effects saw exports rise by 3.1% year-on-year and imports rise by 5.7%.

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