The agri-food, fisheries and forestry sector, with a balance of 14.22 billion euros in 2019, accounts for 18.3% of all exports from national economy

This report offers a detailed and updated analysis of the main figures and indicators that highlight the current in-depth foreign trade situation of the agri-food, fisheries and forestry sector.

Imports amounted to 38.96 billion euros, up 1.2% on the previous year. Accordingly, the balance stands at 14.22 billion euros, a rise of 18.2% on 2018.

The report, structured in three blocks, studies, in the first of these, the main foreign trade figures as a whole, which highlights the contribution from the agri-food, fisheries and forestry sector, which accounted for 18.3% of all exports from the national economy.

The Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, praised these figures and highlighted the major effort made by the agri-food sector in the period.

Spain maintains its position as the fourth leading exporter from the EU for this type of goods, with an export share of 9%, slightly higher than the figure for 2018 and behind only the Netherlands, Germany and France.

The food and drinks industry, which comprises all transformed food, agricultural and fisheries products, exported 60% of the total, with a figure of 31.9 billion euros, up 6.4% on 2018.

The report also provides a foreign trade comparison over the decade 2010-2019, from which it can be deduced that agri-food, fisheries and forestry exports have risen by 72% in the last 10 years.

Based on these figures, the document analyses different economic indicators, such as the degree of internationalisation of the sector, the coverage rate, figures on import and export companies and sector investments.

International markets

The second block is given over to analysing trade flows, taking into account the origin and destination of the goods and other aspects relating to the trend in international indices.

According to the figures, the EU-28 was the main destination of agri-food, fisheries and forestry exports, with a share of 72%. The amount exported was 38.11 billion euros, a year-on-year rise of 2.8%.

The leading trading partner was France, with an export share of 22% and an import share of 26%. Accordingly, over the course of 2019, products for a total value of 8.39 billion euros were exported to the neighbouring country, mainly citrus fruits, pork, fresh vegetables and olive oil.

France was followed by Germany from within the EU-28 countries, with 5.89 billion euros (up 1.2%). Among the products most exported to Germany were citrus fruits, fresh vegetables, red fruits, kiwis and persimmons, wine and grape juice.

Italy was the third leading destination for Spanish agri-food exports, with 5.28 billion euros. The products most exported were olive oil, molluscs, pork and fish conserves.

As regards third countries, exports rose by 12% in value. The main destinations were China, the United States, Japan, Switzerland and Morocco.

China accounted for 15.5% of the sales of agri-food products to non-EU countries, taking over the leading position from the United States, which has traditionally been Spain's leading non-EU trading partner. Exports to China stood at 2.34 billion euros, a 79% rise on the figure for 2019, mainly due to pork exports.

Exports to the United States amounted to 2.18 billion euros, a rise of 7% on the previous year. These exports mainly comprised olive oil, wine and grape juice, olive conserves and cheese.

Exports to Japan amounted to 1.01 billion euros, up 9.6%. The main products exported were pork, olive oil, wine and grape juice.

Morocco is also an important trading partner at an agri-food level. It was the fifth leading destination for exports, with 558 million euros, and the third leading country in terms of imports, with 1.54 billion euros. Among the leading products exported were soybean oil, live plants and live cattle.

The share of exports to third countries has increased by 1.8 percentage points over the last two years, with Asia the destination recording the largest increase, thanks to growth in sales to China and Japan.

As regards imports, 54% were from the EU-28, to stand at 20.91 billion euros, and 46%, for the sum of 18.05 billion euros, from third countries. There were significant imports of molluscs, maize, crustaceans, fresh fish and soya beans. In terms of imports, Spain's leading trading partners are France, the Netherlands, Germany and Portugal.

The report also studies the behaviour of the most important groups of foreign trade products in 2019, highlighting that the most important products exported were pork, citrus fruits, olive oil, wine and grape juice and the group of other vegetables.

The report is available to be downloaded from the web page of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in the section on Analysis and Prospects.

Non official translation