The Spanish economy records a non-energy trade surplus of €630 million, its highest level in the last 15 months

Spanish exports of goods continue to rise, reaching almost €34.72 billion in May 2024, the second highest value in the historical series for a month of May. This represents a year-on-year increase of 2.3%.

Imports amounted to over €37.06 million and remained stable with respect to the same month of the previous year. This is reflected in the trade data declared by Customs and collected in Ministry for Economy, Trade and Enterprise's Monthly Foreign Trade Report, prepared by the Secretary of State for Trade.

Foreign trade in Spain is more dynamic than in the main neighbouring economies, and Spanish companies are well positioned in international markets. To this effect, the growth of Spanish exports in May contrasts with the falls recorded by the EU27 (-3.5% year-on-year), the Eurozone (-3.0%) and other European partners such as Germany (-3.8%), France (-5.9%) and Italy (-1.7%). Outside the EU, exports from the UK fell by 14.7% year-on-year, while those from the US grew by 3.7% year-on-year, China by 11.2% year-on-year and Japan by 13.5% year-on-year.

This stronger export performance caused the trade deficit to fall by 25% compared to the same month of the previous month, to almost €2.35 billion. May notably saw the highest non-energy surplus in the last 15 months at €629.6 million.

By sectors, the surpluses in food, beverages and tobacco (almost €1.95 billion), the automobile sector (€1.12 billion) and non-chemical semi-manufactures (€699.7) stood out.

With the EU, the trade surplus increased to €3.38 billion (surplus of over €3.31 billion in May 2023). The trade deficit with non-EU destinations narrowed to almost €5.73 billion (deficit of over €6.43 billion in May 2023). The destination markets where the largest surpluses were achieved were France, Portugal and the UK.

The coverage rate stood at 93.7%, 2.1 percentage points higher than in May of the previous year.

Diversification of markets and sectors

In May, the sectors with the highest positive contributions to the annual rate of change of exports (+ 2.3%) were energy products (2 percentage points), food, beverages and tobacco (1.6 points), consumer manufactures (0.4 points) and raw materials (0.3 points). Highs for May were reached in the food, beverages and tobacco sector (9.1% year-on-year growth) and the automotive sector (1.5% year-on-year).

By destination market, exports to the EU27 accounted for 59.7% of the total. Record figures for the month were reached in 9 EU destinations, including Italy, Poland and Greece.

Exports to non-EU destinations grew by 10.2%, accounting for 40.3% of total exports. Record highs were achieved for the month in markets of great importance for Spain such as the UK, Morocco, Turkey and Mexico.

Foreign trade data January to May 2024

In the cumulative year to May 2024, exports of goods reached almost €162.14 billion, the second-best figure in the historical series for the same period (2.3% less than the same period of the previous year). Imports amounted to more than €177.25 billion (1.5% less than in the same period of the previous year).

The non-energy balance continues to decline slightly in the first four months of the year and stands at over €14.01 billion (compared to a non-energy deficit of almost €14.58 billion in the same period in 2023). In total, the trade balance recorded a deficit of just short of €15.11 billion.

The sectors with the largest surpluses were food, beverages and tobacco (just over €9 billion), the automotive sector (almost €4.08 billion) and non-chemical semi-manufactures (€2.86 billion).

By geographical area, exports to the EU27 accounted for 62.4% of the total, while non-EU destinations accounted for 37.6% of the total.

A surplus of just over €13.98 billion was recorded with the EU in the period, while the trade deficit with non-EU countries fell to €29.09 billion. The countries with the largest surpluses were France (just short of €10.13), the UK (just short of €5.89) and Portugal (just short of €5.87).

By autonomous community, the ones with the highest growth in exports were the Canary Islands (17.7%), followed by Extremadura (16.3%) and Castilla y León (11.3%).

The number of regular exporters - those that have exported more than €1,000 in the reference year and in each of the three immediately preceding years - grew by 4.9% in the period January-February 2024 to 42,335 exporters. These exported almost €155.89 billion, 96.1% of the total and 0.7% more than in the same period of the previous year.

Non official translation