Hence, Spain closed the year with a positive result in terms of exports, which exceeded the rate of growth posted by European exports (1.3%) and Eurozone exports (1.8%), as well as those of such countries as Italy (2%), France (-0.2%) and the United Kingdom (-11.1%). German exports rose by 3.9% while, beyond the EU, US and Japanese exports grew by 2.8% and 4.8%, respectively.
In turn, imports amounted to 264.51 billion euros, up by 5.7% on 2013. In real terms, imports were up by 8.3%, due to the downward trend in their prices measured using UVIs (down by 2.4%).
The trade deficit stood at 24.47 billion euros, the second-lowest result since 1998 behind that posted in 2013 (-15.97 billion euros) but achieved on this occasion within a context of growing imports stemming from the economic recovery.
The non-energy surplus stood at 13.6 billion euros, while the energy deficit fell by 7.1% to 38.07 billion euros. The coverage rate stood at 90.7%, in other words, 2.9 points lower than in 2013 (93.6%, provisional data).
Geographic areas
In 2014 as a whole, demand from a number of large emerging countries declined but was mainly offset by intra-community demand. Thus, exports to the EU accounted for 63.4% of the total, a higher percentage than the 62.6% posted in the period January-December 2013. This proportional increase is linked to the Eurozone (49.7% between January and December 2014, compared with 49% in the same period of 2013) and, to a lesser extent, the rest of the EU (13.7% in January-December 2014 as opposed to 13.6% in January-December 2013). Sales to the EU and the Eurozone were up by 3.9% (4.7% and 4.1% in 2013 overall). Specifically, sales to our main trade partners grew considerably: to Germany by 5.7%; to Italy by 5.1%; to Portugal by 3%; and to France by 0.1%. Sales to the rest of the EU countries also grew, by a total of a 3.6% (6.8% in 2013). Of particular note, the period saw 4.3% growth in sales to the United Kingdom and a 3.4% increase in sales to Poland.
Demand from non-EU countries rose slightly from January to December 2014, such that exports to non-EU countries rose by 0.2% year-on-year (+6.1% in 2013) and accounted for 36.6% of total exports (37.4% in 2013). Changes were observed in terms of non-EU destinations, with significant growth in sales to North America (22%) and Asia (excluding the Middle East) (16.3%). It is especially worth noting the growth in Spanish exports to the United States (22.6%), Canada (18.6%), South Korea (83.6%) and Japan (18.4%). Exports to Latin America fell by 6.7%, in particular to Venezuela (-40.9%), Brazil (-13.3%), Chile (-11.1%) and Argentina (-2.5%).
Economic sectors
The automotive sector excelled in sectorial terms, exports from which rose by 6.2% and accounted for 14.8% of the total. Highly positive results were also posted by the manufactured consumer goods sector, with a 7.8% increase and 9.2% of the total; the food, beverage and tobacco sector, with an increase of 4.4% and 15.5% of the total; and the energy products sector, from which exports rose by 7.1%, mainly due to the significant increase in gas exports (56.8%), accounting for 7.2% of the total.
Hence, in terms of contribution to export growth, the automotive sector contributed 0.9 percentage points; the manufactured consumer goods sector contributed 0.7 points; as did the food, beverage and tobacco sector; and energy products contributed 0.5 points. By sub-sector, the main positive contributions were from motor vehicles and motorcycles (0.9 points, largely due to higher exports to Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States and France), other foodstuffs (0.4 points, mainly due to rising exports to Italy and the United States), gas (0.4 points, with strong exports to Japan, Argentina, South Korea and Turkey), and clothing and plastics (each contributing 0.3 points).
As regards imports, the strengthening of domestic demand in 2014 - mainly due to investment in machinery and equipment and increasing private consumption - fostered an increase in imports. Imports in the capital goods sector grew by 9.5%, above all those of industrial machinery (13.5%) and office and telecommunications equipment (8%). Durable consumer goods imports grew by 13% and imports of manufactured consumer goods increased by 13.2%. In turn, imports in the automotive sector posted a significant rate of growth in 2014 (19.4%).
In terms of contribution to import growth, it is worth highlighting the automotive sector, with a contribution of 2 points divided between motor vehicles and motorcycles (1.2 points) and automotive components (0.8 points). Also significant contributors were the capital goods sector (1.6 points), in particular its general use machinery (0.4 points) and electrical appliances (0.3 points) sub-sectors, and the manufactured consumer goods sector (1.3 points).
The autonomous region that contributed most to the year-on-year growth of total exports in 2014 was Catalonia, which contributed 0.8 points (its exports accounted for 25.1% of the total and increased by 3.1%). In second place was the Basque Country, with 0.7 points (its exports accounted for 9.3% of the total and rose by 8.2%). Meanwhile, the Region of Valencia (10.4% of the total, with sales abroad up by 5%) and the Region of Murcia (4.3% of the total, with exports up by 11.6%) both contributed 0.5 points.
December 2014
In the month of December, Spanish exports of goods were up by 5.7% year-on-year to 19.35 billion euros, the highest value of exports recorded in any December since records began in 1971. In real terms, export growth was actually higher (7.2%) since export prices measured using Unit Value Indices (UVIs) fell by 1.5%.
The December figures reveal the good performance of both national exports and those of our main trading partners. German exports were up by 10%, French exports rose by 5.6% and Italian exports increased by 6.3%. Exports from the European Union were up by 4.9% and those of the Eurozone by 5.3% year-on-year. In contrast, exports from the United Kingdom fell by 3.2% and returned to the downward trend that began in February, with the only exception being the results in November. Outside the European Union, Japanese exports were up significantly by 12.8% and US exports grew slightly by 1.5%.
The recovery of domestic demand explains why Spanish imports rose by 5.1% year-on-year in December to 21.17 billion euros. The increase is greater in real terms (7%) since prices measured using UVIs fell by 1.8%.
However, the trade balance posted in December 2014 showed a deficit of 1.83 billion euros, 0.4% lower than in December 2013 (a deficit of 1.83 billion euros, provisional data). The coverage rate stood at 91.4%, 0.5 points higher than in December 2013 (90.9%). The non-energy balance showed a surplus of 700.3 million euros (1.22 billion euros in the same month last year, provisional data) while the energy deficit shrank by 17.4%, having been greatly affected by the fall in oil prices.
Geographic areas
In the final months of the year, the depreciation of the Euro - among other factors - enhanced a certain trend shift in terms of geographic areas, with increased exports to non-EU countries. In particular, there was a 6.9% increase in exports to non-EU destinations (4.6% in December 2013), accounting for 39.2% of the total in December 2014 (38.8% in the same month of 2013). The largest growth was posted by exports to North America (30.9%), Asia (26.3%) and Latin America (9.8%). It is worth noting the increase in exports to Taiwan (397.6%), Indonesia (41.1%), the United States (36.3%), Saudi Arabia (33.3%), Japan (32.3%) and Singapore (29.1%).
Exports also rose to the European Union and the Eurozone (4.9% and 4.3%, respectively) and accounted for 60.8% and 47.6% of the total (compared with 61.2% and 48.2% in the same month last year). Among the main destinations for Spanish exports, there was significant year-on-year growth in exports to Germany (9.4% of the total, growth of 8.6%) and Italy (6.9% of the total, growth of 13.4%), while those to France (14.7% of the total) remained stable. However, exports to Portugal (7.6% of the total) fell by 8.8%. Exports to the rest of the European Union rose by 7.4% and accounted for 13.2% of the total (13% in December 2013). Two main destinations stood out in this regard: Poland (1.6% of the total, export growth of 16.5%); and Bulgaria (0.7% of the total, export growth of 48.5%).
Economic sectors
The main contributions to export growth in the month of December came from the chemical products sector, which accounted for 2.9 percentage points of total export growth (the sector's sales abroad accounted for 14.3% of the total and were up by 23.5%); the manufactured consumer goods sector, with a contribution of 1.3 points (up by 15.8% and accounting for 9% of the total); the energy products sector, also contributing 1.3 points (with sales abroad accountig for 6.7% of the total, and growth of 21.9%); and the capital goods sector, with a contribution of 1.1% points (with sales abroad accounting for 20.6% of the total, and growth of 5.4%).
The subsectors that contributed most to export growth this month were medicines (1.4 points, mainly due to higher sales to the United States, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Brazil), motor vehicles and motorcycles (1.2 points, basically due to sales to Germany, but also to the United Kingdom, France and Italy), oil and oil derivatives (1 point, mainly due to sales to the United States, Italy, Taiwan and Greece) and electrical appliances (0.8 points, mainly as a result of higher sales to France, Mexico, the United States and Brazil).
Ministerio