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Spanish exports reach historic high, surging 9.2% YoY until April

Business
The Ministry of Industry, Commerce, and Tourism of Spain informs, in the first four months of the year, from January to April 2023, Spanish goods exports increased by 9.2% compared to the same period last year, reaching a historic high of €132.026 billion. Meanwhile, imports rose by 0.2% to €142.980 billion, also a record high for this period. These figures are revealed in the latest foreign trade report from the State Secretariat for Trade, based on customs-declared trade data.

As a result, the trade deficit decreased by 50% in the first four months of the year, amounting to €10.954 billion, lower than the deficit of €21.811 billion recorded in the same period of 2022. As explained by the Minister of Industry, Trade, and Tourism, Héctor Gómez: “During the first four months of the year, Spanish exports have shown resilience and have halved the trade deficit. It is worth highlighting the good performance of key sectors in our trade balance, such as capital goods, automotive, and food.”

The trade coverage rate stood at 92.3%, which is 7.6 percentage points higher than that recorded in January-April 2022 (84.7% in January-April 2022).

The non-energy balance showed a surplus of €686.5 million (a deficit of €5.655.6 billion in the accumulated total until April 2022), while the energy deficit reached €11.640.3 billion and decreased compared to the previous year (a deficit of €16.155.4 billion in the same period of 2022).

The year-over-year increase in Spanish exports between January and April (9.2%) was higher than that registered in Germany (5.3%) and France (7.2%). Outside the EU, sales to the United Kingdom (11.6%), the United States (3.2%), China (10.6%), and Japan (4.2%) also grew.

The main positive contributions to the annual variation rate of exports from January to April 2023 came from the capital goods sector, the automotive sector, food, beverages and tobacco, and chemicals.

Exports to the European Union (63.8% of the total) grew by 10.3% year-on-year in the first four months of the year. Sales to the eurozone (55.9% of the total) increased by 9.3%, while those destined for the rest of the European Union (7.9% of the total) rose by 17.6%. Exports to third countries (36.2% of the total) rose by 7.3% during this period, with increases in exports to Oceania (33.9%), Latin America (25.0%), North America (9.6%), and Asia excluding the Middle East (1.6%).