First quarter 2022 exports up 14% year-on-year to over €21bn

Catalonia’s exports over the first quarter of 2022 increased 14% year-on-year to €21.873bn according to figures published by Spain’s Industry, Commerce, and Tourism Ministry on Tuesday morning.

Catalonia’s sales abroad over this period, which were 21.7% higher than the same pre-pandemic period in 2019, account for just under a quarter – 24.4% – of Spain’s total.

While making up a significant chunk of Spanish exports, Spain’s sales abroad grew at a higher rate than Catalonia’s: 23.9% year-on-year and 26.2% on 2019.

March 2022 exports

Figures for March, which were also published on Tuesday, show that Catalan exports accounted for 24.7% of all of Spain’s sales abroad, ahead of Madrid at 16.5% and Andalusia’s 11.8%.

Around a third of all Catalan exports were chemical products, followed by capital goods (16.2%), and food, beverages and tobacco (13.9%).

The sale of all of these products is up compared to the same month a year prior, but chemical product exports in particular have grown spectacularly over the same period by 19.5%.