The Diplomat
Spain’s trade deficit reached €13,422.1 million in 2020, down 58% from a year earlier and a new record low in a year marked by the Covid crisis, the State Secretary for Trade, Xiana Méndez, reported yesterday.
Méndez presented last year’s foreign trade balance sheet, according to which imports experienced a 14.7% drop, greater than the 10% drop in exports.
The State Secretary, as reported by Europa Press, pointed out that last year began with “a lot of dynamism”, although since March Covid was an “unprecedented shock”, with falls of around 40% in April and May and the disruption of value chains.
However, since the middle of the year there has been a “clear path of recovery” that “is consolidating and is very strong”, with exports registering an upturn of 0.9% in December.
Méndez indicated that 2021 begins with “optimism” as he foresees an improvement in the international context due to the vaccine, the free trade agreement with the United Kingdom before the Brexit and the new US Administration, which can “condition for the better” the foreign sector. The forecasts for 2021 and 2022 are for “great dynamism” in exports of goods and services, he pointed out.
The reduction in the trade deficit last year came as a result of the 10% drop in exports, which reached 261,175 million euros, the lowest level since 2016 as a result of the paralysis of activity during the months most affected by the pandemic.
The decline in exports was lower than that of imports, which stood at 274,597.5 million euros, down 14.7% year-on-year, largely due to the fall in energy purchases due to mobility restrictions and the drop in oil. Thus, the coverage rate stood at 95.1%, 5 percentage points higher than in 2019 (90.1% with provisional data).
The non-energy balance showed a surplus of €1,106.1 million, compared to a deficit of €8,737.2 million the previous year, while the energy deficit fell by 37.5% to €14,528 million.
By destination, exports to the EU-27 accounted for 60.5% of the period’s total, while exports to non-EU destinations were 39.5% of the total, figures in line with the previous period in 2019. Exports to the euro zone ceded 7%, to the EU -7.7% and to third destinations -13.3%.
In this sense, Méndez explained that they have behaved similarly to other countries, close to the EU average (-8.3%) and “slightly worse” than exports from Germany (-9.3%) or Italy (-9.7%), but better than in France and, outside the EU, better than Japan (-11.1%), the United States (-12.9%) and the United Kingdom (-14.6%).
On the other hand, the number of regular exporters -companies that have exported in the last four years- increased by 4.1%, up to 55,133 companies, reaching a new historical record, something “especially relevant” in Méndez’s opinion, as it reflects the “solidity” of the foreign sector, the professionalization and the loyalty of international clients.
On the other hand, foreign direct investment in Spain fell by 11% up to September, although divestments decreased by 6.6% in the period. Spain was the fourth largest recipient of greenfield projects in the world in the first ten months of the year.
As a priority, Méndez explained that the ‘Action Plan for the Internationalization of the Spanish Economy 2021-22’ will be approved, which is aligned with the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan.
