Spanish exports increase by 24.8% in the first half of 2022

For the Secretary of State for Trade, Xiana Méndez, “Spanish foreign trade continues to show great dynamism, higher than in most of our neighbouring countries. The evolution of Spanish exports in the month of June shows a very good performance that reaches all sectors”.

In fact, the year-on-year growth of Spanish exports in the first half of the year (24.8%) was higher than that recorded by the EU27 (21.8%) and the eurozone (22.3%). It is also higher than in France (20.1%), the UK (16.1%), Germany (13.3%) and Italy (22.4%). Outside Europe, sales also grew in the USA (20.3%), China (13.2%) and Japan (15.2%).

The non-energy balance showed a deficit of €6.1 billion, and the energy deficit reached €25.9 billion.

“Imports increased to a greater extent due to the effect of energy products and the consolidation in the recovery of domestic demand. Moreover, higher commodity prices, mainly due to higher energy prices, remain the main cause of the deficit. This keeps the trade deficit similar to previous months,” explains Méndez.

The coverage rate – export/import ratio – stood at 85.7%. In terms of volume, exports grew by 6.6%, because prices, approximated by Unit Value Indices, rose by 17.1%. Imports rose by 17.7%, as prices increased by 19.5%.

The main positive contributions to the annual variation rate of exports accumulated in the first half of 2022 came from the chemical products, energy products, non-chemical semi-manufactures and food, drinks and tobacco sectors (contribution 2.5 points). No sector contributed negatively.

Exports to the European Union (62.4% of the total) increased by 26.1% in the first six months of the year. Sales to the eurozone (54.8% of the total) increased by 25.4% and sales to the rest of the European Union (7.6% of the total) grew by 31.3%.

Sales to third countries (37.6% of the total) grew by 22.8% in this period, with increases in exports to Latin America (35%), North America (30.3%), the Middle East (24.3%), Africa (22.1%) and Asia excluding the Middle East (2.6%).

The regional governments with the highest growth in their exports were the Canary Islands, the Balearic Islands and the Community of Madrid (44.5%).

Data for June 2022

In June, Spanish exports of goods increased by 26.6% over the same month in 2021, reaching €34.95 billion, a record high for the month of June. Imports increased by 41.1% year-on-year to €40.35 billion, also a record high for any month.

As a result, a deficit of €5.4 billion was recorded in June 2022. The coverage rate stood at 86.6%. The non-energy balance showed a deficit of €489 million, and the energy deficit reached €4.9billion.

Spain’s increase in exports in June (26.6%) was larger than that recorded by the EU27 (21.6%) and the eurozone (22.0%). It was also higher than the figures recorded in Germany (14.6% year-on-year), France (16.4%), Italy (21.2%) and the UK (20.1%). In the rest of the world, exports from the United States increased by 23.6% year-on-year, from China by 22.0% year-on-year and from Japan by 19.3% year-on-year.

In June 2022, exports to the EU accounted for 60.4% of the total (62.9% in June 2021) and rose by 21.5% year-on-year. Those to the eurozone rose by 19.4% and those to the rest of the EU by 37.9%. Of the main partners, the increases in sales to Portugal (33%), Germany (17.5%), France (16.3%) and Italy (15.2%) stand out. Last, exports to third countries (non-EU) accounted for 39.6% of the total, up 35.3% year-on-year, with sales to the UK increasing by 27.2%.