Las exports from Spain to other countries reached between January and May of this year a record value of 165,968 million euros declared in Customs, 6.4% more than in the same period of the previous year and an all-time high for the first five months of the year, thanks mainly to the sale abroad of cars, fruits, oil and medicines, according to data published this Thursday by the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism.
In this same period of time, the imports What did we do from other countries? they went down 1.4%, to 180,033 million, with which Spain registered a trade deficit of 14,065 million, lower than last year but higher than in the years prior to the pandemic. This deficit was mainly due to energy, since Spain depends on foreign energy, but if the purchase and sale of energy products is omitted, the country registered a surplus of 511 million in exports of other types of merchandise.
Although exports reached an unprecedented figure, it must be taken into account that it was due to the inflation and the rising prices, since in volume Spain sold 1.7% less abroad, but at a price 8.2% higher. Thus, although our trading partners they bought less due to the cooling of international demand, they paid us more Hence the rise in prices.
Los automobiles They were the exported products that reported the highest amount of income to the country, of 16,177 million euros in the first fifteen months of the year, 28.3% more than in the same period last year; followed by the fruits, vegetables and legumes, which reported 11,043 million euros, 6.5% more; he oil and byproducts, which contributed 10,017 million euros to the trade balance, 9.4% less than in 2022 due to the price drop registered this year; and the medicineswhich accounted for 10,623 million euros, 2.1% more.
Türkiye and, with less intensity, France, Italy and Germany, were the countries that contributed the most to the increase in sales of automobiles; while the car components were destined with special intensity to Morocco, Germany, Poland and Mexico; the fruits and vegetables they were sold especially to Germany and Portugal and, to a lesser extent, to the Netherlands and Poland; while there was also an increase in gas sales to Morocco and, at a great distance, Italia.