Spain’s trade balance deficit stood at 16,420 million euros up to June, which is 48.6% less than in the same period last year. This is indicated by the data published this Thursday by the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism and collected by the Efe agency. 4.7% year-on-year to 199,951 million; while imports fell by 2.9%, to 216,372 million, which shows that difference.
The drop in energy prices compared to the first half of last year when the war in Ukraine broke out is behind this moderation in the purchases of Spain, an importer of energy products, abroad. With this evolution, the coverage rate – percentage of imports that can be paid for with exports – increased to 92.4% in the first half of the year.
Drop in exports in June
Looking only at the data for the month of June, Spanish merchandise exports fell by 2.8% compared to the same month last year, to 33,982.5 million; while imports fell by 9.9% to 36,337.7 million. With this evolution, the trade balance increased in June 2023 to a deficit of 2,355.2 million, half of the 5,393.6 million euros in June 2022.
Returning to the semi-annual data, and to the detail of imports, the non-energy balance showed a surplus of 285 million, compared to the deficit of 6,069 million euros accumulated until June 2022, while the energy deficit fell to 16,705 million compared to 25,894 million in the same period of 2022.
In a statement also collected by Efe, the acting Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, Héctor Gómez, stressed that “the solidity of Spanish exporting companies makes exports more dynamic than imports” which “has made it possible to reduce the trade deficit by half and have a non-energy surplus in the accumulated first six months of the year”.
“The solidity of Spanish companies makes exports more dynamic than imports”
In exports, the main positive contributions to the annual rate of change came from the automotive sector, capital goods, food, beverages and tobacco, and chemical products. On this point, the Government emphasizes that “the foreign sector is one of the engines of our economy and the competitiveness of Spanish companies in international markets stands out for quality and innovation”.
export destination
By destination, exports to the European Union, which account for 63.3% of the total, rose 6.3% year-on-year in the first six months of the year. Sales to the euro zone rose 5.6% and sales to the rest of the European Union grew 11.5%. Sales to third destinations increased by 2.1% in this period, with increases in exports to Latin America and Oceania.
By region, the autonomous communities with the highest growth in their exports in the semester were Castilla y León, 16.3%; Catalonia, 14.5%; and La Rioja, 12.6%.
Trade surplus in the Eurozone
On the other hand, the Eurozone increased a surplus of 23,000 million euros in its merchandise trade with the rest of the world in June, after having recorded a deficit of 27,100 million in the same month of 2022, the statistical office reported Thursday. unitary Eurostat and collects Efe. Exports of goods from the euro area to the rest of the world in June amounted to 252.3 billion euros, an increase of 0.3% compared to the same month last year, while imports reached 229.3 billion, which implies a year-on-year drop of 17.7%.
Trade between euro partners reached 231,600 million euros, 4.1% less than in June 2022 in euros, compared to the deficit of 151,800 million obtained a year earlier. Exports in that period advanced by 3.2%, to 1,434 billion euros, while imports decreased by 7.3%, to 1,429 billion. Trade between the nineteen countries that share the euro increased to 1,369 trillion euros, 1.1% more than between January and June 2022.
As far as the European Union is concerned, the trade surplus with the rest of the world in June was 24.6 billion euros, in contrast to the deficit of 34.9 billion in the same month of 2022. Exports increased by 0.4 % compared to June 2022 and stood at 225,900 million euros, while imports fell by 22.6%, to 259,900 million euros.
Trade within the EU reached 358,700 million euros in June, 3% less than that detected in the sixth month of 2022. Between January and June, the Twenty-seven obtained a trade deficit with the rest of the world of 4,200 million euros , compared to the deficit of 201,300 million accumulated in those six months of 2022.
Exports grew by 3.9%, to 1,286 billion euros, while imports fell by 10.4%, to 1.29 billion euros. Trade within the community club increased by 2.1%, to 2.12 billion euros. In June 2023, compared to the same month in 2022, once the Member States registered increases in exports, while the other 16 registered decreases.
The largest increases were recorded in Malta (13.2%) and Ireland (11.7%), while the largest decreases were registered in Greece (-24.5%), Belgium (-16.8%), Bulgaria ( -15.6%) and Finland (-15.4%). Regarding EU imports, all Member States registered decreases except Austria, which experienced a slight increase. The largest falls were registered in Malta (-24.5%), Bulgaria (-22.6%), Greece (-21.1%) and Finland (-20.2%).
