Imports rose by 1.5% to 189.89 billion euros, also an all-time high. As a result, the trade deficit for the first seven months of the year was 17.20 billion euros, 3.6% down on the figure posted for the same period in 2018. The coverage rate stood at 90.9% (90.5% in January-August 2018).
"The Spanish foreign trade sector has been transformed enormously in recent years, with a growing number of regular exporters and with a greater penetration in emerging markets," explained the State Secretary for Trade, Xiana Méndez. "This year, the international financial organisations forecast that Spain will have a current-account surplus, despite the context of an economic slowdown and international trade tensions."
Xiana Méndez further recalled that "the Action Plan for the Internationalisation of the Spanish Economy for the period 2019-2020 identifies challenges and opportunities and includes specific actions supporting companies in their process of internationalisation and helping them deal with the future challenges of an uncertain international environment."
Figures for January to July, 2019
In terms of volume, exports grew by 1%, since prices measured by Unit Value Indices rose by 1%. Imports rose by 0.4% since prices increased by 1.1%.
The non-energy balance posted a deficit of 3.24 billion euros (a cumulative total of 3.36 billion in the first seven months of 2018), while the energy deficit fell by 3.5% to 13.96 billion euros (14.47 billion in the cumulative figure to July 2018).
Growth in Spanish exports between January and July was lower than in France (up 4.6%), Italy (up 3.2%), the EU (up 3.1%) and the Eurozone (up 2.8%), but greater than in Germany (up 1%) and the UK (up 1.2%). Exports fell in the United States (down 0.9%) and Japan (down 4.3%).
The main positive contributions to exports came from the sector of capital goods, food, drink and tobacco and chemical products. The main negative contributions were from the automotive sector.
Exports to the European Union (66% of the total) grew by 1.9% in the first seven months of the year. Of these, exports to the Eurozone (51.7% of the total) grew by 1.6%. Exports to third countries (non-EU) accounted for 34% of the total and grew by 2.3%.
The autonomous regions posting strongest export growth were Asturias (up 31.8%), Aragon (up 15.4%) and Cantabria (up 9.8%).
In turn, the main positive contributions to imports were the chemical product sectors and capital goods. The main negative contributions were from the raw materials and automotive sectors.
Figures for July 2019
In July, Spanish exports of goods increased by 3.8% on the same month in 2018, to 25.29 billion euros. Imports grew by 0.6% in year-on-year terms to 27.77 billion euros. As a result, a deficit of 2.49 billion euros was posted in July 2019, 23.4% down on the same month in 2018. The coverage rate stood at 91.0%, 2.8 percentage points more than in July 2018. The seasonally-adjusted figures for exports, corrected to adjust for the calendar effect, grew by 1.5% year-on-year, while imports fell by 2.2%.
The non-energy balance posted a deficit of 648 million euros (versus a deficit of 1.01 billion euros in July 2018), and the energy deficit fell by 17.7%.
The increase in Spanish exports is similar to that in the Eurozone (3.8% year-on-year) and higher than that in the EU-28 (3.5%).
The main contributions to export growth in July were the sectors of food, drink and tobacco (up 1.6 points), chemical products (up 1.3 points) and capital goods (up 1.2 points). The sectors that contributed negatively were energy products (down 0.8) and raw materials (down 0.7).
Exports to the European Union accounted for 63.9% of the total (63.4% in July 2018), with an increase of 4.6%. Exports to the Eurozone grew by 4.4%, while those to the rest of the EU increased by 5.5%: There were notable increases in exports to France (up 7.7%), Germany (up 6.9%), UK (up 6.6%), Portugal (up 5.4%) and Italy (up 2.9%). Finally, exports to third countries (non-EU) accounted for 36.1% of the total and grew by 2.5% year-on-year.
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