This figure reflects a consolidation and even a slight increase in the noticeable upward trend recorded by export figures in 2011 when compared with 2010. Meanwhile, imports fell by 0.5% year-on-year to a total of 149.91 billion euros meaning that the trade deficit for the period January-July fell by 20.9% year-on-year to 20.33 billion euros.
Spain posted a trade surplus with the EU of 7.06 billion euros, almost double the figure posted for the period January-July 2011 (3.6 billion euros). A significantly larger surplus was also posted with the Eurozone, growing from 1.89 billion euros in January-July 2011 to 4.68 billion euros in the same period of 2012.
The energy deficit rose by 13.4% year-on-year and the non-energy surplus continued to increase: from a deficit of 1.83 billion euros in January-July 2011 to a surplus of 6.74 billion euros so far this year.
Finally, the rate of coverage for the period stands at 86.4%, which is 3.5% higher than the figure recorded in the first seven months of 2011.
Analysis by sector: exports
In the period January-July 2012, all export sectors recorded a positive trend except for the automotive sector and non-chemical semi-manufactured goods. The leading sectors were those of capital goods and food, with shares of 19.5% and 15.1% of the total, respectively. The former grew by 1.3% year-on-year while the latter grew by 11.2% year-on-year.
Positive results were also posted by chemical product exports (14.4% of the total), which grew by 5.7%. Non-chemical semi-manufactured goods (11.9% of the total) fell by 1.5%.
Exports from the automotive sector (14.6% of the total) fell by 9.4%, with drops of 12.4% in finished vehicles and 2.5% in components.
Exports from the consumer manufactured goods sector (8.2% of the total) grew by 8.3% on the figures recorded in the first seven months of 2011.
The export of energy products (6.9% of the total) posted growth of 14.3%, with increases of 175.7% in gas, 38.3% in coal and electricity and 9% in oil and derivatives.
Finally, the export of raw materials (2.8% of the total) grew by 7.4%, as did the export of durable goods (1.6% of the total) with an increase of 4.1% year-on-year.
Analysis by sector: imports
The import of energy products (the leading import sector in the period with a share of 24% of the total) grew by 13.6%, with increases of 11.8% in oil and derivatives and 19.7% in gas.
Imported capital goods (with a share of 16.8%) fell by 7.2% year-on-year, while imported chemical products (15.2% of the total) increased by 2.1%.
Imports in the automotive sector (9.9% of the total) fell by 8.1%, due to a 7.6% reduction in finished vehicles and an 8.3% reduction in components.
Food imports (10.5% of the total) and imported consumer manufactured goods (9.3% of the total) recorded opposing results.
The former posted growth of 4.1% while the latter posted a decline of 5.9% on the results posted for the first seven months of 2011.
Geographical analysis: exports
So far in 2012, exports to the European Union (63.7% of the total) have fallen by 0.5% while exports to the Eurozone (50.7% of the total) have also fallen, by 1.2%. On the other hand, exports to non-EU European countries (13.1% of the total) have risen by 2.4%.
Exports to France (the main buyer of Spanish exports in the period with a share of 17.1%) fell by 2%, while exports to Germany (10.7% of the total) increased by 8.7%.
Exports to such countries as Belgium (up 3.5%) and the Netherlands (up 4.8%) have increased on the figures recorded in the first seven months of 2011, while exports to others, such as Portugal (down 7.9%), Italy (down 6.4%) and the United Kingdom (down 2.5%) have fallen.
Exports to non-EU countries (36.3% of the total in the first seven months of 2012) posted an increase of 11.8% on the figures for the same period of the previous year. Exports to all geographic regions have increased except for the Rest of America, which only accounts for 0.1% of the total. Exports to non-EU European countries increased by 4% and those to North America increased by 5.7%.
When compared with the figures for the first seven months of 2011, exports to Africa increased by 28.8% (22.4% to Morocco), to Asia by 18.7% (13.6% to China and 24.3% to Japan), to countries in Latin America by 15.6% and to the Middle East by 13.2%.
Geographic analysis: imports
Imports from the European Union (50.4% of the total) fell by 4.9% year-on-year and imports from the Eurozone (40.7% of the total) fell by 5.6%.
Among the imports from Spain's main EU suppliers, year-on-year growth in the first seven months of 2012 was only recorded for those imports from Ireland (3.9%) and the Netherlands (6.2%).
Imports from France (10.8% of the total) fell by 4.2%, as did those from Germany (10.8% of the total) by 8.4%. Imports from other countries also posted lower figures, such as Belgium (-12.2%), Italy (-7.8%), Portugal (-3.1%) and the United Kingdom (-3.3%).
Imports from non-EU countries (49.6% of the total in the period) rose by 4.3% year-on-year. Similarly, imports from Latin America increased by 41.1% and from Africa by 18.2%.
On the other hand, imports from non-EU European countries fell by 5.4%. Similarly, imports from Asia fell by 5.4% (3.5% from China and 5.3% from Japan), as did imports from North America, by 3.5% (3.9% from the United States).
Trade balance
The trade balance in the period January-July 2012 recorded a deficit of 20.33 billion euros, 20.9% less than in the same period of 2011 when it stood at 25.71 billion euros.
The trade balance with the European Union posted a surplus of 7.06 billion euros, almost double the figure recorded in the period January-July 2011 (3.6 billion euros). Furthermore, Spain posted a trade surplus with the Eurozone amounting to 4.68 billion euros, far in excess of the figure posted in the same period of the previous year (1.89 billion euros).
Finally, Spain posted a trade deficit with non-EU countries amounting to 27.4 billion euros, which represents a drop of 6.5% year-on-year. The geographic areas with which Spain has the highest trade deficits are Asia (12.84 billion euros), Africa (7.64 billion euros) and Latin America (3.92 billion euros).
July 2012
Exports in July 2012 amounted to 19.6 billion euros, while imports amounted to 21.29 billion euros. The former posted growth of 5.2% year-on-year and the latter 5% year-on-year.
As a result, the goods trade deficit recorded an increase of 3.1% year-on-year to 1.69 billion euros. The energy deficit rose by 7.1% while the non-energy balance posted a surplus of 1.64 billion euros, the largest surplus recorded since 1995 and a year-on-year increase of 11.6%.
Finally, the monthly rate of coverage stood at 92.1% which is 0.2% higher than the figure recorded in July 2011.
Analysis by sector: exports
The main Spanish export sectors in July 2012 were capital goods (20.7% of the monthly total), chemical products (14.2% of the total) and food (14.1% of the total), with year-on-year growth of 7.1%, 7.5% and 22.8% respectively.
Exports from the automotive sector (13.8% of the total) fell by 6.3%, with a reduction of 12.2% in finished vehicles and an increase of 9.6% in components.
The export of non-chemical semi-manufactured goods (11.4% of the total) fell by 21.9%, while the export of consumer manufactured goods (8.4% of the total) increased by 17.2%. Energy products (7.9% of the total) also grew by 24.5%.
Analysis by sector: imports
The import of energy products (22.9% of the monthly total) increased by 12.1% year-on-year in July 2012. By segment, oil imports rose by 12.1% and gas imports rose by 14.2%.
The import of non-energy products (77.1% of the total) increased by 3.1% on the figures recorded in July 2011.
The import of capital goods (16.2% of the total) fell by 1.1% year-on-year while the import of chemical products (15.7% of the monthly total) increased year-on-year by 7%.
Imports in the automotive sector (9.5% of the total) recorded growth of 0.5%, caused by a 3.3% decline in imported finished vehicles and a 2.9% increase in component imports.
Food imports (11% of the total) rose by 10.3% year-on-year and consumer manufactured goods imports (10.9% of the total) increased by 9.4%. Meanwhile, the import of non-chemical semi-manufactured goods (6.6% of the total) fell by 10.6% year-on-year.
Geographical analysis: exports
In July 2012, exports to the European Union (61.3% of the monthly total) fell by 2.2% year-on-year. However, exports to the Eurozone (49.3% of the total) rose by 0.7%.
Exports to France (the main buyer of Spanish exports with a share of 16.1%) fell by 4.3%, while exports to Germany (10.5% of the total) rose by 17.2% year-on-year.
Exports to Spain's other main European buyers fell: Italy down by 3.1%, Portugal down by 0.3%, the United Kingdom down by 3.4% and Belgium down by 3.7%. On the other hand, exports to the Netherlands rose by 4.9% and to Ireland by 22.7%.
Exports to non-EU countries (38.7% of the total in July 2012) posted growth of 19.4% on the figures in the same month of 2011.
All these geographic regions posted growth in terms of Spain's exports in July 2012, except for the Middle East (-0.1%), which accounts for 3% of total Spanish exports.
In this regard, exports to non-EU European countries also rose by 22.8%. Furthermore, exports to Africa (39.2% and 30.5% to Morocco) and Asia (22%, with 32.5% to China and 62.3% to Japan) also increased.
Similarly, exports to North America recorded growth of 28.9%, with exports to the United States up 30.6% year-on-year. In turn, exports to Latin America rose by 13.8%, with an increase of 18.5% in exports to Brazil.
Geographical analysis: imports
In July 2012, imports from the European Union (49.3% of the monthly total) increased by 2.2% year-on-year. Imports from the Eurozone (39.9% of the total) rose by 0.8%.
Imports from France (10.7% of the total) fell by 1.8%, while imports from Germany (10.8% of the total) increased by 0.7% on the figures recorded in July 2011.
In turn, imports from the United Kingdom rose by 8.5% and from Italy by 4.3%. Similar results were posted by imports from the Netherlands (up 4.4%) and from Belgium (up 7.3%).
Imports from non-EU countries (50.7% of the monthly total) posted growth of 7.9% on the figures for July 2011.
Imports from Asia increased by 5.8% (6.6% for China and -6.3% for Japan). On the other hand, imports from non-EU European countries posted a year-on-year decline of 4.3%, as did those from North America by 5.7%.
Imports from the Middle East, Oceania and the Rest of America recorded the largest year-on-year declines; -32.8%, -30.8% and -11.3%, respectively. However, significant growth was recorded by imports from Africa (31.7%) and Latin America (50.2%).
Trade balance
The goods trade balance posted a deficit of 1.69 billion euros, which represents an increase of 3.1% on the same month of 2011 (1.64 billion euros). The trade balance with the European Union has once again posted a surplus; 1.52 billion euros. This is 24.3% lower than the figure posted in the same month of the previous year (2.01 billion euros). Furthermore, Spain also posted a trade surplus with the Eurozone; 1.16 billion euros. This is 0.3% higher than the figure recorded in July 2011.
Finally, a trade deficit was posted with the non-EU countries of 3.22 billion euros (12% lower than the figure recorded in July 2011). Asia, Africa and Latin America are the geographic regions with which Spain posted the largest trade deficits: 1.99 billion euros, 935.3 million euros and 825.5 million euros, respectively.