The Diplomat Spanish exports of goods reached 195.1055 billion euros in the first half of the year, which represents a decrease of 2.4% compared to the same period in 2023, according to data provided yesterday by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Business. From January to June, imports experienced a similar decrease (2.5%), with a total of 210.927 billion. With these figures, the coverage rate - percentage of imports that can be paid with exports - in the first half of the year increased by 0.1 points, to 92.5%. As a result, the trade deficit remained stable, although it fell by 3.6 percent compared to the first half of last year, to 15.822 billion euros. The continued deficit is mainly due to energy dependence. Excluding energy, the deficit was very close to equilibrium, at just over 138 million, while the energy deficit was reduced by 6.1% to 15.684.1 billion euros. The export sectors with the largest surplus were: food, beverages and tobacco (10.609.1 billion euros), the automobile sector (4.845.2 billion) and non-chemical semi-manufactured goods (3.507.8 billion). Exports to the Eurozone accounted for 62.5% of the total, while exports to destinations outside the EU accounted for 37.5% of the total.With the European Union, a surplus of 18,018.2 million euros was recorded in the first six months of the year, while the trade deficit with non-EU countries fell to 33,840.7 million. By country, the largest surplus was with France (12,165 million euros), followed by Portugal (7,196.9 million) and the United Kingdom (7,106.5 million). By autonomous communities, those that saw the most significant growth in their exports compared to the same period in 2023 were the Canary Islands (24.2%), Extremadura (14%) and Castilla y León (8.4%). Regarding the data for the month of June, exports totaled 32,968 million, 3% less, while imports fell by 7.3%, to 33,681.7 million euros.The trade deficit was thus reduced by 70% to 712.9 million euros, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Business detailed. The Club of Exporters and Investors and the industrial companies of the Associació Multisectorial d'Empreses (Amec) believe that the fall in exports in the first half of the year calls into question the possibility of the foreign sector making the expected contribution to the growth of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2024. In a joint statement, they point out that exports show a tendency to move away from the historical record reached in 2022.From the Club of Exporters and Investors they pointed out that "our price increases make us less competitive in Europe, the only continent where we have a strong trade surplus." For his part, the general director of Amec, Joan Tristany, stressed that "the international context remains very uncertain and challenging, which requires redoubling efforts to strengthen our competitiveness in foreign markets."
