Exports grow by 5.5% and the deficit shrinks to 6.1% to July

Cumulative results for Spain are in line with those of the European Union (5.4%) and higher than those of the Eurozone (4.9%). In comparison with other countries, of all the major EU economies only Germany (6.8%) posted higher results than Spain, while the results of Italy (5.2%), France (4.7%) and the United Kingdom (-2.0%) are all lower. Outside the EU, Japan's cumulative growth of 7.8% contrasts with the 5.4% reduction posted by the USA.

Imports, worth 161.51 billion euros, grew in year-on-year terms at a slightly slower rate than exports (4.5%) and have slowed in comparison with last year's figures, having increased by 2.0 points less (6.5%). In real terms the increase was greater, since the purchase of goods from abroad grew by 6.3% due to prices calculated using UVIs, shrinking by 1.7%.

With these figures, the trade balance in January-July 2015 posted a deficit of 12.88 billion euros, 6.1% lower than in the same period 2014.

The non-energy balance posted a surplus of 3.49 billion euros (9.84 billion euros in the same period 2014), while the energy deficit shrank significantly by 30.5% to 16.37 billion euros, aided by lower energy prices.

Meanwhile the coverage rate stood at 92.0%, i.e. 0.9 percentage points higher than in the period January-July 2014.

Geographic areas

Exports to the European Union accounted for 64.6% of the total for the period (63.6% in the same period of the previous year) and grew by 7.2% year-on-year. Exports to the Eurozone, 50.5% of the total (50.0% in the same period 2014) grew by 6.5% year-on-year.

The increase in sales to all our main EU partners is largely due to the European economic recovery: Germany (7.3%), France (5.1%), and Italy (10.8%). In the rest of the EU the 8.0% increase in sales to the United Kingdom is particularly noteworthy.

However, exports to non-EU countries also grew in this period, albeit at a more moderate rate (2.6%). This demand accounted for 35.4% of the total (36.4% in the same period 2014).

We would also highlight the growth of exports to Oceania (14.3%) and America (11.4%). By individual countries, there was strong export growth in the year to Canada (20.8%), USA (13.0%), Chile (29.7%), Mexico (24.5%), China (8.2%), Saudi Arabia (42.8%), United Arab Emirates (20.9%), Egypt (28.5%) and Australia (19.7%).

Containers for exportThe countries with the largest positive contribution to the year-on-year rate of change of Spanish exports in January-July 2015 (5.5%) were France (0.8 points, due especially to higher sales of automobiles and motorcycles, fruits, vegetables and legumes, aircraft and engines); Germany (0.8 points, due to greater exports of automobiles and motorcycles, fruits, vegetables and legumes, medicines and automotive components); Italy (0.8 points, due to an increase in exports of automobiles and motorcycles, fruits, vegetables and pulses, iron and steel, and clothing); and the USA (0.6 points, as a result of greater exports of automobiles and motorcycles, non-ferrous metals, medicines and fruits, vegetables and legumes).

By autonomous regions, the region with the greatest year-on-year increase to its exports in January-July 2015 was Aragon (21.6% year-on-year), followed by Castile-La Mancha and Balearics (both with 13.5% year-on-year). Conversely, the biggest year-on-year declines were seen in Cantabria (-11.4% year-on-year), the Region of Murcia (-6.5% year-on-year), Canaries (-3.7% year-on-year), and Andalusia (-3.5% year-on-year).

In terms of contributions to the year-on-year rate of change of total exports, the greatest positive contribution was made by Catalonia, with 1.8 percentage points; its exports accounted for 25.6% of the total and grew by 7.2% year-on-year. Next came the Region of Valencia, with a contribution of 1.3 points and whose exports, 11.3% of the total, grew by 12.5% year-on-year. The regions with the greatest negative contributions were Andalusia with -0.4 points (10.3% of all exports, down by 3.5% year-on-year), and the Region of Murcia with -0.3 points (3.7% of the total, down by 6.5% year-on-year).

Exports from the Region of Madrid (11.4% of the total) grew by 3.4% year-on-year while those from Galicia (7.3% of the total) were up by 5.2%.

Economic sectors

From a sectoral viewpoint, the trend in sales abroad of practically every sector was upward. The main sectors in terms of contribution to total exports in January-July 2015 were capital goods (whose exports accounted for 19.7% of the total and were up by 2.9% year-on-year), the automotive sector (17.2% of the total and an increase of 19.3% year-on-year), food, drink and tobacco (16.2% of the total and a growth of 9.6% year-on-year), and chemical products (14.7% of the total and up by 8.1% year-on-year).

The main positive contributions to total exports came from the automotive sector (contribution of 2.9 percentage points of the increase to total exports); food, drink and tobacco (1.5 points); chemical products (1.2 points), and consumer manufactures (1.0 points). The only negative contributions at a sector level came from energy products (contribution of -1.6 points) and other goods (-0.8 points).

By subsectors, the main positive contributions were made by automobiles and motorcycles (2.5 points, mainly due to the higher sales to France, United Kingdom, Germany and Turkey); fruits, vegetables and legumes (0.9 points, to Germany, France, United Kingdom and Italy); medicines (0.5 points, to Germany, USA, Japan and Canada); and clothing (0.5 points, to Italy, Poland, Saudi Arabia and Germany).

With regard to imports, the dynamism of investment in fixed capital, the improvement in industrial activity, and the strengthening of consumption continue to drive purchasing abroad.

Thus imports of capital goods (which accounted for 19.8% of the total) were up by 18.3% year-on-year; imports of chemical products (16.3% of the total) increased by 11.5%, while automotive sector imports (13.5% of the total) grew by 17.8%. Conversely, imports of energy products (14.7% of the total) shrank by 28.6%, reflecting the downward trend in prices in international markets.

In terms of contribution to the growth of the imports from January to July, the standout sectors were capital goods (contribution of 3.2 percentage points to the 4.5% total growth rate for all imports); the automotive sector (contribution of 2.1 points); chemical products (contribution of 1.7 points); and consumer manufactures (contribution of 1.6 points). The only sector with a negative contribution to imports in the period January-July was the energy products sector, with a contribution of -6.1 points.

July 2015

In the month of July, Spanish exports of goods grew by 8.9% in year-on-year terms to 23.51 billion euros, a new monthly high for exports, bettering the previous record held by March 2015 (23.22 billion euros). In real terms, exports grew by 6.8% year-on-year due to the 1.9% rise in prices calculated using Unit Value Indices.

Meanwhile, the export growth rate of our main EU partners slowed: in Germany exports grew by 6.2% (versus 13.7% in June); in France the increase was 1.6% in July versus 14.6% the previous month; in Italy exports grew by 6.3% in July versus 9.4% in June; while in the United Kingdom exports fell by -2.2% in July versus a 4.8% increase in June. The year-on-year growth rates for the EU-28 and the Eurozone stand at 5.1% and 5.3% respectively.EFE

Outside the EU, Japan's exports grew by 7.6%, while the decline in USA exports became sharper (-6.8%).

Meanwhile, imports in July 2015 totalled 24.90 billion of euros, 6.4% more than in July 2014. The increase is greater in real terms (9.5%) due to prices calculated using UVIs falling by 2.9%.

The trade balance in July 2015 posted a deficit of 1.40 billion euros, 23.6% lower than in the same month 2014 (a deficit of 1.83 billion euros). The coverage rate stood at 94.4%, 2.2 points higher than in July 2014 (92.2%). The non-energy balance posted a surplus of 0.93 billion euros (1.42 billion euros in July 2014, provisional figures), and the energy deficit fell by 28.3% to 2.33 billion.

Geographic areas

Exports to the EU grew by a year-on-year 9.5%, while those to the Eurozone were up by 8.0%. Sales to France, our main customer with 15.7% of our total exports, increased by 3.4%; exports to Germany (10.6% of the total) were up by 13.8%; those to the United Kingdom (7.2% of the total) grew by 9.8%; exports to Italy (7.0% of the total) increased by 4.0% and, finally, those to Portugal (7.1% of the total) grew by 6.6%. Of the rest of the EU we would highlight the 27.5% rise in exports to Poland.

Exports to non-EU countries grew by 7.9%, with standout growth to the USA (25.2%) the target of 5.4% of our exports, and to Mexico (65.1%), Chile (47.8%), China (29.4%), Saudi Arabia (26.3%), United Arab Emirates (13.8%), Egypt (18.7%) and South Africa (15.8%).

Thus, in July 2015 the impact of our exports to EU countries grew to the detriment of exports to third countries, which reflects the weakness of the current economic situation in some emerging economies. Exports to the EU accounted for 63.6% of the total, a higher percentage than the 63.3% posted in July 2014. This growth in the share was due to the increasing importance of the rest of the European Union (14.3% in July 2015 versus 13.6% in the same month of the previous year), while the percentage of exports to the Eurozone fell slightly to 49.3% of the total, four tenths less than in the same month last year.

Economic sectors

The sectors with a greatest positive contribution to annual export growth in July (8.9%) were the automotive sector (contribution of 4.1 percentage points). Its sales abroad accounted for 17.7% of the total and were up by 26.9%. In second place came the food, drink and tobacco sector, with a contribution of 2.0 points, contributing 15.0% of the total and up by 14.0%. Next came the capital goods sector, with a contribution of 1.7 points, a contribution of 20.1% to the total, and a year-on-year increase of 8.2%, followed by chemical products (1.2 points contribution, 14.7% share, and 7.9% growth) and consumer manufactures (1.2 points contribution, 9.6% share, and 13.5% increase).

By subsectors, the main positive contributions were made by automobiles and motorcycles (3.7 points, mainly due to higher sales to United Kingdom, Germany, France and Italy); fruits, vegetables and legumes (1.1 points, to Germany, France and United Kingdom); aircraft (0.8 points, mainly as a result of sales to France and Mexico, and also, some way behind, to the USA and Uzbekistan); and non-ferrous metals (0.7 points, in particular to the USA, followed by Portugal, Italy and France).