For the Secretary of State for Trade, Xiana Méndez, this data reflects that “the recovery of Spanish exports is a fact. Spanish foreign trade continues to show great dynamism in October and our exporting companies are very well positioned in international markets, as trade flows have exceeded pre-pandemic levels”.

Imports also reached an all-time high, with an increase of 22.1% in the first ten months of this year to €275.311bn.

The coverage rate (export/import ratio) stood at 94%. In volume terms, exports grew 13.3%, as prices, approximated by Unit Value Indices, increased by 6.9%. Imports rose by 12.7%, as prices grew 8.4%.

The non-energy balance showed a surplus of €2.575bn (surplus of €765m in the year to October 2020, provisional data) and the energy deficit increased by 53.4% to €19.204bn (deficit of €12.521bn in 2020).

Cumulative data from January to October 2021

The year-on-year growth of Spanish exports between January and October (21.1%) was higher than that recorded in the EU27 and the eurozone (16.5% YoY in both cases). It was also higher than in Italy (18.6%), France (15.0%), Germany (13.9%) and the UK (8.6%). Outside Europe, sales also increased in the USA (23.4%), China (22.5%) and Japan (22.1%).

Exports to the EU (61.9% of the total) rose by 23.5% in the first ten months of the year, while sales to third countries (38.1% of the total) increased by 17.4% in this period.

The autonomous communities with the highest growth in exports were the Community of Madrid, Castilla-La Mancha and the Principality of Asturias. The Canary Islands was the only region that decreased (-1.1%).

Data for October 2021

Exports and imports again reached a new monthly record high in October 2021. Exports of Spanish goods increased by 13.6% over the same month in 2020, to €28.72bn. Imports increased by 23.7% year-on-year to €32.081bn.

Compared to pre-pandemic levels, exports grew by 6.9% and imports by 9% over October 2019.

The main positive contributions to the annual rate of change of exports came from the energy products sector, Spanish exports continue to set a new record for another month. The latest declared trade data from Customs show that Spanish exports of goods grew by 21.1% from January to October 2021 compared to the same period last year and reached €258.682bn, an all-time high for this period.