These figures are given in the latest Foreign Trade Report of the State Secretariat for Trade with customs-declared trade data.
Accordingly, the trade deficit for the first two months of the year reached almost €29.6 billion, lower than the almost €53.44 billion in the same period of 2022.
"The dynamism of Spanish exports compared to imports has reduced the trade deficit by up to 44%," explained Héctor Gómez, acting Minister for Industry, Trade and Tourism.
The coverage rate - the ratio of exports to imports - increased to 90.7% (84.3% in January-September 2022, provisional data).
The ex-energy trade balance showed a deficit of almost €4.72 billion (compared to the €13.38 billion deficit up to September 2022), and the energy deficit fell to almost €24.88 billion (almost €40.06 billion for the same period in 2022).
Moreover, Spanish exports between January and September (growth of 0.3%) showed higher growth compared to the European economies, with the EU-27 (-1.1%) and the euro area (-1.9%) showing declines.
The sectors that contributed positively to the annual rate of change of exports from January to September 2023 came from the automotive industry (contribution of 2.8 points), capital assets (contribution of 1.9 points), food, drink and tobacco (contribution of 0.8 points).
"Spanish exports of services also boomed, increasing by 26.4% in 2022. Without a doubt, the Spanish foreign sector is an engine of economic growth and a generator of employment," said acting minister Héctor Gómez.
Exports to the EU (62.8% of the total) grew 1.1% year-on-year in the first nine months of the year. Sales to the eurozone (54.8% of the total) rose by 0.2% and sales to the rest of the EU (8.0% of the total) increased 7.4%. Spanish exports to third destinations accounted for 37.2% of the total.
The regional governments with the highest growth in their exports were Castilla y León, Catalonia and La Rioja.
Data for September 2023
In September, Spanish merchandise exports exceeded €31.01 billion, compared to just over €34.85 million in imports. Imports fell more than exports (16.2% vs. 10.4% year-on-year, respectively). However, compared to the previous month, exports increased by 0.4% and imports rose by 1.6%.
In September 2023, the trade deficit narrowed to almost €3.84 billion (deficit of almost €6.98 billion in the same month of 2022).
The non-energy balance showed a deficit of just over €886 million (deficit of €2.48 billion in September 2022, provisional data), and the energy deficit decreased to just over €2.95 billion (deficit of almost €4.5 billion in September 2022, provisional data).
Spanish exports to the EU in September 2023 accounted for 62.5% of the total, while exports to third countries (non-EU) accounted for 37.5% of the total and sales to the UK increased by 1.2%.
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