Exports up 17% compared to 2021, reaching €46 billion

Catalan exports grew by 17.2% during the first half of the year compared to the same period in 2021, as confirmed in new figures published by the ministry of industry, commerce, and tourism on Thursday. 

Sales abroad reached a value of €46.492 billion between January and June. If compared to the first six months of 2019, before the pandemic, exports are up by 24.4%. 

Chemicals, capital goods, and food were the biggest Catalan sellers to foreign markets.

Meanwhile, imports into Catalonia during the first half of 2022 totaled €55.393 billion, 28.2% more than the same period in 2021.

Sales from Catalonia accounted for 24.2% of the total for Spain, more than any other region, ahead of Madrid (13.1%) and Andalusia (11.4%).

Catalonia’s business minister, Roger Torrent, celebrated the exports figures seen in the first half of the year. "Catalan companies are competitive and well positioned in the world," Torrent said in a statement. 

"Foreign sales of Catalan products is a structural feature of our economy and one of the great assets we have," he added. 

According to the calculations of Catalonia’s trade an investment agency ACCIÓ, sales figures of €46 billion is the highest figure in the historical series for the first half of a year.