The sale of cars, fruits, oil and medicines leads exports to a record

Exports from Spain to other countries between January and May of this year reached a record value of 165,968 million euros declared in Customs, 6.4% more than in the same period of the previous year and a historical maximum for the first five months of the year, thanks mainly to the sale abroad of cars, fruit, oil and medicines, according to data published this Thursday by the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism.

In this same period of time, our imports from other countries fell by 1.4%, to 180,033 million, with which Spain registered a trade deficit of 14,065 million, lower than last year but higher than in the years prior to the pandemic.. This deficit was mainly due to energy, since Spain depends on foreign energy, but if the purchase and sale of energy products is omitted, the country registered a surplus of 511 million in exports of other types of merchandise.

Although exports reached an unprecedented figure, it must be taken into account that it was due to inflation and the rise in prices, since Spain sold 1.7% less abroad in volume, but at a price that was 8.2% higher. Thus, although our trading partners bought less due to the slowdown in international demand, they paid us more for it due to the rise in prices.

Automobiles were the exported products that reported the highest amount of income to the country, 16,177 million euros in the first fifteen months of the year, 28.3% more than in the same period last year; followed by fruits, vegetables and legumes, which reported 11,043 million euros, 6.5% more; oil and derivatives, which contributed 10,017 million euros to the trade balance, 9.4% less than in 2022 due to the price drop registered this year; and medicines, which accounted for 10,623 million euros, 2.1% more.

Turkey and, to a lesser extent, France, Italy and Germany, were the countries that contributed the most to the increase in car sales; while the car components were destined with special intensity to Morocco, Germany, Poland and Mexico; fruit and vegetables were sold mainly to Germany and Portugal and, to a lesser extent, to the Netherlands and Poland; while there was also an increase in gas sales to Morocco and, far behind, to Italy.

In general terms, exports to the European Union in the period represented 63.6% of the total (62.8% in the same period of the previous year) and rose 7.7% year-on-year; those directed to the euro zone, 55.7% of the total (55.4% in the same period of 2022), grew by 7.1% year-on-year; while 36.4% of the total went to non-EU destinations (37.2% in the same period of 2022) and rose 4.3% year-on-year.

More sales to the EU, less to Algeria and Russia

The main destinations that contributed to the growth of our sales were: France, which bought goods for 25,859 million, 15.6% of the total exported; Germany, which imported Spanish goods for 17,435 million; and Italy, to which we export 14,197 million in goods. On the other hand, the greatest negative contributions corresponded to Algeria (-0.5%), due to the change in position of Spain with respect to the Sahara, the Netherlands (-0.3 points), Gibraltar (-0.1 points) and Russia (-0.1 points), due to the drop in bilateral trade with that country as a result of the war in Ukraine.

Castilla y León was the autonomous community that increased its exports the most in the first fifteen months of the year (+18.9%) given that it is specialized in the sale of automobiles; followed by La Rioja (+16.8%), which mainly exports food and beverages, and Catalonia (+15.0%), specializing in chemical products, cars and capital goods. The latter is the one that makes the greatest contribution to the country's total exports, since they account for 26.4% of the total; followed by the Community of Madrid, whose exports represent 14.2% of the total.

“In January-May 2023, Spanish exports of goods rose by 6.4% year-on-year, a more intense growth than those registered by the euro area (3.0%) and the European Union-27 (3.7%). Among the main economies of the European Union, exports from Germany (3.3%), France (6.7%) and Italy (4.8%) also grew. Outside the European Union, exports from the United Kingdom increased by 9.6% year-on-year, those from the United States by 0.9% year-on-year, those from China by 8.1% year-on-year and those from Japan by 3.5% year-on-year.