The Diplomat
Spanish exports of goods grew by 21.7% between January and July 2021 compared to the same period of the previous year and reached 179,529 million euros, which represents an all-time high for the period and allows, according to the Government, to exceed “pre-pandemic levels”.
Apart from that, imports also rose by 20.1% to 186,524 million euros and the trade deficit for the first seven months of 2021 reached 6,995 million euros, 11.2% lower than that recorded in the same period of 2020, according to the latest foreign trade data declared to the Tax Agency through Customs, published yesterday by the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism.
According to the cumulative data from January to July 2021, the coverage rate – the ratio of exports to imports – stood at 96.2% (94.9% in January-July 2020, provisional data). In volume terms, exports rose by 15.9%, as prices, approximated by Unit Value Indices, increased by 5.0%. Imports rose by 13.5%, as prices increased by 5.7%. The non-energy balance showed a surplus of 5.202 billion euros (surplus of 1.142 billion euros in the cumulative to July 2020, provisional data) and the energy deficit increased by 35.2% to 12.197 billion euros (deficit of 9.022 billion in 2020).
Comparing these data internationally, the year-on-year growth of Spanish exports between January and July (21.7%) is higher than that of the EU-27 (17.7%) and the euro zone (17.3%), as well as that recorded in France (16.1%), Germany (16.1%) and the United Kingdom (9.2%). Outside Europe, sales also grew in the USA (23.8%), China (24.5%) and Japan (25.1%).
The main positive contributions to the annual rate of change in exports from January to July 2021 came from the capital goods, chemicals, non-chemical semi-manufacturing and automotive sectors. No sector contributed negatively. As for imports, the main positive contributions in the January-July period came from the chemicals, capital goods, energy products and automotive sectors.
Exports to the European Union (61.7% of the total) rose by 24.1% in the first seven months of the year. Sales to the euro zone (54.5% of the total) rose by 25.1% and those to the rest of the European Union (7.2% of the total) rose by 16.7%. Sales to third destinations (38.3% of the total) also grew by 18.1% in this period. Of particular note were the increases in exports to Oceania (40.1%), Latin America (23.9%), Asia excluding the Middle East (21.1%), Africa (20.5%), the Middle East (16%) and North America (14.3%).
According to the Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism, Reyes Maroto, these “positive data” confirm “the great capacity for recovery of our foreign sector, especially exports, which already exceed pre-pandemic levels”. The recovery of the Spanish economy “is underway” and this year “we expect a positive contribution of the foreign sector in the GDP”, she continued. “The shock plan to protect our export sector that has mobilized more than 2,600 million euros together with the Action Plan for the Internationalization of the Spanish Economy 2021-2022 are instruments that will allow to strengthen foreign trade in the coming months”, said the Ministry.
