Spanish exports outperformed those of the Eurozone and the European Union. The coverage rate (exports over imports) stood at 90.6% (92.5% in January-March 2016).
In terms of volume, exports grew by 13.3%, since prices measured by Unit Value Indices rose by 0.8%; while imports grew by 8% following a 7.9% price rise.
The non-energy balance posted a deficit of 411 million euros (987 million euros of deficit in the period to March 2016) and the energy deficit rose by 71.6% to stand at 6.79 million euros (deficit of 3.96 billion euros in 2016).
Spanish exports between January and March outperformed those of other major economies, except the United Kingdom (21.4%). Eurozone exports grew by 9.5% and those of the European Union as a whole by 9.7%. They also grew in France (4.2%), Germany (8.5%) and Italy (10%). Beyond Europe, exports grew in Japan (8.5%), the United States (7.3%) and China (4.2%).
Economic sectors
All main sectors reported strong export growth. Capital goods (accounting for 19.2% of the total) grew by 10.5%; the automotive sector (17.6% of the total) grew by 8.2%, and food, drink and tobacco (17.2% of the total) grew by 14.1%.
With regard to imports, consolidation of the economic recovery is driving growth in most sectors. Imports of capital goods (20.9% of the total) increased by 15.2% year-on-year, automotive imports (13.5% of the total) grew by 6.6%, purchases of consumer manufactures grew by 4.1%, those of food, drink and tobacco by 9.7%, and those of durable consumer goods by 5.7%.
Geographic areas
Exports to the European Union (67.1% of the total) grew by 13.1% in the first three months of the year. Exports to the Eurozone (52.4% of the total) increased by 13.6% and those to the rest of the European Union (14.7% of the total) grew by 11.2%.
The recovery in emerging countries caused exports to third countries (32.9% of the total) to increase by 16.3% in this period, with overall growth to all regions. By geographic region, the largest growth in Spanish exports was posted in Asia excluding the Middle East (25.4%), Oceania (22.5%), North America (18.5%), Latin America (12.8%), Africa (11%) and the Middle East (6.2%). By country, it is worth noting the export growth to markets with great potential, such as China (36.6%), Canada (21.7%), the United States (18.1%), Morocco (17.8%) and Mexico (8%).
The autonomous regions posting strongest export growth were the Balearic Islands (133.7%), the Canary Islands (38.3%) and Murcia (31.1%). The lowest growth was posted in Castile-Leon (3.9%), Cantabria (5.9%) and the Region of Valencia (6.4%).
Figures for March
In March, Spanish exports of goods increased by 16.9% on the same month in 2016 to stand at 26.23 billion euros. This is the highest export amount for a single month.
Imports in March 2017 rose by 19.1% in year-on-year terms to stand at 27.68 billion euros. As a result, in March 2017 a deficit of 1.46 billion euros was posted, 83.3% higher than in the same month of 2016. The coverage rate stands at 94.7%, 1.1 percentage points higher than in March 2016.
The non-energy balance posted a surplus of 529 million euros, (surplus of 514 million euros in March 2016), while the energy deficit rose by 51.7%.
In March, Spanish exports outperformed the Eurozone (12.4%) and the European Union (12.9%), and also outperformed exports from Germany (10.8%), France (9.5%) and Italy (14.5%). The United Kingdom (25.5%) posted better results. Outside the EU, export growth was posted in China (12.3%), Japan (12%) and the United States (8.1%).
Economic sectors
In March, the main contributions to export growth were made by capital goods (a contribution of 3.2 points), food, beverage and tobacco (2.6 points), energy products (2.3 points) and chemical products (2.2 points). The only sector that contributed negatively, albeit only slightly, was that of other goods (-0.1 points).
Geographic areas
In March 2017, exports to the European Union accounted for 65.9% of the total (67.2% in March 2016) and grew by 14.5%. Exports to the Eurozone grew by 15.6% while those to the rest of the EU increased by 10.9%. With regard to Spain's main trade partners, we would highlight increased sales to Italy (23.4%), Germany (14.2%) and France (11.6%), while exports to the United Kingdom (1.2%) posted more moderate results.
Spain's trade surplus with the European Union stood at 1.88 billion euros in March 2017 (a surplus of 1.63 billion euros in March 2016). Against the Eurozone, the trade balance showed a surplus of 1.03 billion euros (surplus of 821 million euros in the same month of the last year). Meanwhile, the trade deficit with non-EU countries increased by 37.8% on March 2016 to stand at 3.34 billion euros.
