In the first quarter of 2026, the trade deficit decreased by €11.677 billion compared to the same period of the previous year, as reflected in the declared customs trade data included in the Monthly Foreign Trade Report of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Business, prepared by the State Secretariat for Trade. This decrease is driven by the fall in the energy deficit by €7.3777 billion, and the increase in non-energy exports to €91.166 billion euros (+1.2%).
Moreover, total merchandise exports grew in the first three months of the year (+0.7%), exceeding €96.506 billion, the second highest figure recorded for this period. On the other hand, imports registered €108.183 billion, a decrease of 2.5%, which strengthens the coverage rate and improves Spain's external position.
The trade surplus with the European Union reached €6.498 billion in the period. The countries with which the Spanish economy recorded the largest surpluses were: France (€4.628 billion), Portugal (€4.463 billion) and the United Kingdom (€3.814 billion).
The sectors that most increased exports in the first quarter, in year-on-year terms, were: raw materials (+18.8%), capital goods (+5.3%), automotive (+2.7%) and consumer manufactures (+2.0%).
In imports, automobiles were the main driver (+11.1%) and capital goods grew by +3.1%. The sharpest falls were in energy (-16.8%), chemicals (-9.5%) and food (-3.2%).
The largest surpluses from January to March were in food, beverages and tobacco (€5.435 billion), non-chemical semi-manufactures (€1.822 billion) and other merchandise (€1.630 billion).
The number of regular exporters (those who have exported more than €1,000 in the reference year and in each of the three immediately preceding years) grew by 0.6% cumulatively to 39,417 exporters up to March 2026. These exported goods worth €93.1979 billion, 99.9% of the total and 0.7% more than in the same period of the previous year.
Foreign trade data as of March 2026
Spanish merchandise exports grew by more than 5.1% year-on-year in March of this year, reaching €35.859 billion, the second highest ever for a month of March. Seasonally and calendar adjusted, exports grew by nearly 2% and imports fell by -1.6%.
For yet another month, the trade balance continued to shrink, by €4.3719 billion compared to March 2025. This decline is due to the decrease in the non-energy deficit by €1.066 billion and the reduction of the energy deficit by €43.5 million.
In the international context, Spanish merchandise exports grew in line with Germany (6.9%) and France (3.3%). Outside the EU, exports from the USA (15.7%) and Japan (11.5%) also increased, while China recorded a decrease of 0.7%.
Imports, on the other hand, stood at €40.231 billion and increased by 1.6%. The coverage rate (ratio of exports to imports as a percentage) stood at 89.1%, i.e. 3 percentage points higher than in March of the previous year.
The trade surplus with the European Union increased to €2.477 billion (compared to a surplus of €1.5393 billion in March 2025). Meanwhile, the trade deficit with non-EU countries narrowed to €6.849 billion (compared to €7.021 billion in March 2015). The destination markets with the largest surpluses in March were France (€1.812 billion), Portugal (€1.577 billion), and the United Kingdom (€1.347 billion).
Sectors and destination markets
In March, the sectors with the largest positive contributions to the year-on-year growth rate of exports were: other merchandise (1.4 percentage points), capital goods (1.0 percentage points), food, beverages and tobacco (0.9 percentage points), the automotive sector (0.7 percentage points), and consumer goods (0.7 percentage points).
By destination market, exports to the EU-27 accounted for 62.8% of the total and increased by 7.2%.
Record figures for the month were achieved in 16 EU destinations, including: Italy, Poland, Portugal and the Czech Republic.
Exports to non-EU destinations accounted for 37.2% of the total, rising by 1.7% compared to the same month of the previous year. Record highs for the month were achieved in markets of importance to Spain such as the United Kingdom, Turkey, Mexico, and Australia.
Non official translation
