Catalan exports up 8.1% in April to €6.4bn

Exports of goods grew 8.1% in April in Catalonia compared to the same month last year, to 6.4 billion euros, according to figures from Spain's industry, trade and tourism ministry.

The sectors that saw the most growth were the chemical industry (27% of the total), capital goods (16%), the automobile industry (14.7%) and manufactured goods (12.4%).

At the same time, imports to Catalonia went up by 3.4%, to 7.8 billion euros, with chemical products making up 24% of the total.

Each of Catalonia's four provinces saw a rise in exports, except for Lleida, where they fell by 7.8% to 140.7 million euros.

However, the largest rise was noted in Girona, where exports grew 23.6% amounting to 5.4 million euros, followed by Tarragona (10%, €747.8m) and then Barcelona (7%, €5bn).

Some 65.2% of Catalan exports went to other places in the European Union, with a 6% rise to the UK, a 4% rise to Italy and a 1.7% rise to France.

However, elsewhere in the EU there was a decline in exports to Germany (13.2% less), Portugal (1.3%) and Turkey (28.1%).

Export record in 2018

Catalan exports beat records for the eighth year in a row in 2018, reaching a total of 71.6 billion euros, a 1.1% rise on the previous year.

Exports from some 17,239 Catalan companies accounted for 25% of all foreign sales from Spain as a whole last year.

The latest figures show a 0.5% increase in Catalonia's share of exports from Spain, although the country also imported 29.4% of all products into Spain between January and April.