Spanish exports continue at record highs

As the Secretary of State for Trade, Xiana Méndez, points out, "November saw a rebound in exports, which grew more than imports in a context of a global slowdown in trade. The result is a remarkable containment of the deficit in November, which halved compared to October and represents the lowest monthly value since September 2021".

In volume terms, exports increased by 4.2%, as prices, approximated by Unit Value Indices, rose by 18.6%. Imports increased by 8.4%, as prices rose by 25.2%.

The year-on-year growth of Spanish exports between January and November (23.6%) was higher than that recorded in the EU-27 (21.8%) and the eurozone (22.0%). It was also higher than in Germany (14.7%), France (20.3%), Italy (20.5%) and the UK (27.1%). Outside Europe, sales to the US (18.8%), China (11.9%) and Japan (18.9%) also grew.

The main positive contributions to the annual rate of change in exports between January and November 2022 came from the energy and chemical products sectors, and from capital goods and non-chemical semi-manufactures. Notably, no sector had a negative contribution.

Exports to the EU (62.8% of the total) increased by 25.4% in the first eleven months of the year. Sales to the eurozone (55.2% of the total) increased by 25.0% and sales to the rest of the EU (7.6% of the total) by 28.4%.

Sales to third countries (37.2% of the total) grew 20.6% in this period, with increases in exports to North America (28.2%), Latin America (26.6%), the Middle East (26%), Africa (15.9%), Asia excluding the Middle East (7.5%) and Oceania (1.1%).

The regional governments with the highest growth in exports were the Canary Islands, the Community of Madrid and the Balearic Islands.

Data for November

In the month of November, Spanish merchandise exports reached €37.38 billion, representing an increase of 23.3% over the same month in 2021, placing it at a new all-time high for any month.

Imports increased 17.9% year-on-year to €40.69billion, also a record high for the month. As a result, a deficit of €3.31 billion was recorded in November 2022, compared to €4.21 billion the same month of 2021. The coverage rate - export/import ratio - stood at 91.9%.

The non-energy balance showed a surplus of €990 million (deficit of €1.2 billion in November 2021, provisional data), and the energy deficit reached €4.3 billion (deficit of €3.0 billion in November 2021, provisional data).

Spain's increase in exports in November (23.3%) was higher than that recorded by the EU27 (16.7%) and the eurozone (17.0%). Among the major European economies, exports also grew in Germany (13.3% year-on-year), France (15.9%), Italy (18.0%) and the UK (39.0%). In the rest of the world, exports from the US increased by 9.2% year-on-year, from China by 0.9% year-on-year and from Japan by 20.0% year-on-year.

By export sectors, the contribution of chemical products, mainly due to exports of vaccines against COVID-19, and the automotive sector, stood out very positively in November.

In November 2022, exports to the EU accounted for 66.0% of the total and rose 32.3%. Those to the eurozone increased 32.4% and those to the rest of the EU by 31.4%. Last, exports to third countries (non-EU) accounted for 34.0% of the total and were up 9.1% year-on-year, with sales to the UK increasing by 4.6%.

Non official translation