Cover of the Foreign Trade Report
Exports for July 2024 reached 33.269 billion euros, a record high for a July and 9.3% more than in the same month the previous year. In seasonally adjusted and calendar adjusted terms, they grew 2.9% year-on-year.
Imports reached 36.483 billion euros, the second highest figure in July in the historical series, with 3.2% year-on-year growth.
In terms of international comparisons, Spanish exports of goods in July were stronger than those of the euro area and the EU-27 (which recorded year-on-year rises of 7.4% and 7.2% respectively). Among the major EU economies, exports from Germany (5.4%), France (7.1%) and Italy (6.8%) also grew. Outside the EU, exports from the UK fell 15.5% year-on-year, while those from the US, China and Japan grew 5.5%, 6.5% and 10.2% respectively.
This strength of the Spanish foreign sector is also reflected in the reduction of the trade deficit in July to 3.213 billion euros, a fall of 34.4% compared to the same month in 2023 (4.902 billion).
The non-energy deficit reduced 53.8% year-on-year to 1.054 billion, and the energy deficit decreased 17.5% year-on-year to 2.159 million. In addition, energy exports grew 13.1% year-on-year in July, the fourth consecutive month with double-digit growth, thanks mainly to the good performance of gas and oil and derivatives exports.
In addition, the coverage ratio (ratio of exports to imports as a percentage) improved 5.1 percentage points to 91.2%.
By sector, the surpluses in food, beverages and tobacco (1.223 billion euros), the automobile sector (620.8 million) and non-chemical semi-manufactures (434.1 million) stood out.
The trade surplus with the European Union increased to 2.192 billion euros (compared to a surplus of 1.196 billion euros in July 2023). The trade deficit with non-EU destinations narrowed to almost 5.405 billion euros (deficit of 6.098 billion euros in July 2023).
The destination markets where the largest surpluses were achieved were France, Portugal and the United Kingdom.
Sectors and target markets
In July, the sectors with the highest positive contributions to the annual rate of change of exports (9.3%) were: food, beverages and tobacco (2.4 percentage points), chemicals (2.1 points), capital goods (1.5 points) and consumer manufactures (1.0 points).
By destination market, exports to the EU-27 accounted for 59.4% of the total and increased 5.8% year-on-year. Record figures for the month were achieved in 13 EU destinations, including some of our main markets: Germany, Italy, Portugal and Belgium.
Exports to non-EU destinations accounted for 40.6% of total exports and increased 14.9% year-on-year. Record highs were achieved for the month in major markets for Spain such as the United Kingdom, the United States, Morocco, China and Mexico.
Foreign trade data for the cumulative period from January to July 2024
In the cumulative year to July 2024, exports of goods reached 228.375 billion, the second-best figure in the historical series for the same period (0.9% less than the same period of the previous year). Imports recorded 247.411 billion euros (1.7% less than in the same period of the previous year).
The trade deficit decreased 10.7% to 19.036 billion euros. The non-energy balance decreased 40.3% to 1.192 billion, while the energy deficit decreased 7.7% to 17.843 billion euros. The coverage ratio improved 0.8 percentage points to 92.3%.
The sectors with the largest surpluses were food, beverages and tobacco (11.832 billion euros), the automotive sector (5.466 billion euros) and non-chemical semi-manufactures (3.941 billion euros).
By geographical area, exports to the EU-27 accounted for 62.1% of the total, while non-EU destinations accounted for 37.9% of the total.
A surplus of 20.210 billion euros was recorded with the EU in the period, while the trade deficit with non-EU countries fell to 39.246 billion euros. The countries against which the Spanish economy recorded the largest surpluses were: France (13.765 billion euros), Portugal (8.595 billion euros) and the United Kingdom (8.199 billion euros).
By autonomous community, the ones with the highest growth in exports were the Canary Islands (21.7%), followed by Extremadura (14.5%) and Castilla y León (11.0%).
The number of regular exporters - those that have exported more than 1,000 euros in the reference year and in each of the three immediately preceding years - grew by 4.9% in the year until July 2024 to 43,971 exporters. The export value of these was 219.426 billion euros, representing 96.1% of the total, and 2.3% more than in the same period of the previous year.
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