Catalan exports hit new record in first half of 2018 with €36.6bn

Catalan exports continued in full swing in the first half of 2018, with overseas sales worth €36.6bn, the highest figure ever.

According to data published by the Spanish industry ministry, exports grew by 2.9% between January and June 2018 compared to the same period in 2017. In June, sales increased by 0.9%, continuing an upward trend that began in April 2017 and only broken in May 2018.

Yet growth in the second half of 2018 has so far been lower than in the previous periods.

Catalonia accounts for more than a quarter of all exports in Spain, at 25.3%. The chemical, automobile and equipment sectors were the industries that drove most of the sales.

Meanwhile, imports stood at 45.4bn euros in the first half of 2018, some 6.3% more than in the first half of 2017. With these figures, the trade deficit -the difference between exports and imports- was 8.7bn euros, 23.2% more than the deficit registered in the same period in 2017.

What Catalonia exports

The chemical sector accounted for 26.2% of the total goods exported by Catalonia in the first half of 2018, at 9.5bn euros.

The automobile companies followed with 17.6% –and relevant growth compared to the same period in 2017– and equipment came third with 17.3%.

Food, drinks and tobacco exports were lower than in the same period in 2017, and, in fourth position, accounted for 12.4% of the total.

Where Catalonia exports

Almost two thirds of the goods exported by Catalonia between January and June 2018 went to the EU (65.6% of the total, a figure slightly higher than in the same period of 2017).

France (16%), Germany (11.2%), Italy (8.7%) and Portugal (6.8%) were the main importers of Catalan goods within the EU.

Asia (9.3%), Africa (6.4%), Latin America (5.8%) and North America (3.8%) are other territories where most exports ended up.

Portugal and the UK are the EU countries where Catalan sales increased the most. Algeria, Vietnam, Argentina and Peru are the places outside the EU that showed higher growth compared to 2017.

What Catalonia imports

Chemical products (22.2%), equipment (17.2%), automobile goods (16.6%) and food, drinks and tobacco are the top four sectors in terms of imports.