The energy deficit reached 35,561.2 million in the first eight months of the year, compared to 14,594.7 last year

MADRID, 18 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The trade deficit reached 46,461.1 million euros between January and August of this year, which means multiplying by more than four the negative balance registered in the same period of the previous year, according to data published this Tuesday by the Ministry of Industry , Commerce and Tourism.

This result is mainly a consequence of a 40.5% rise in imports, driven by energy products, reaching a record high of 298,513.1 million euros; while exports of goods rebounded at a slower rate, 25%, to 252,052 million euros, also a record for this period.

Thus, the coverage rate -- ratio between exports and imports -- stood at 84.4%, that is, 10.4 percentage points less than that registered in January-August 2021.

Behind the strong increase in the trade deficit is the rise in the energy deficit, which increased to 35,561.2 million euros, compared to the deficit of 14,594.7 million in the same period of the previous year. On its side, the non-energy deficit stood at 10,899.8 million euros, compared to a surplus of 3,723.4 million euros in the same period of 2021.

The main sectors in terms of weight over total exports in the period were chemical products, capital goods, food, beverages and tobacco, and non-chemical semi-manufactures.

Geographically, exports to the European Union-27 in the period represented 62% of the total and rose by 26.1% year-on-year, while those to the euro zone, 54.4% of the total, increased by 25 .3% year-on-year. With regard to non-community destinations, 38% of the total were sent and they rose by 23.4% year-on-year.

On the other hand, in terms of contribution to the annual variation rate of total exports, the main destinations worldwide were: France (3.4 points), Portugal (2.8 points), Belgium (2.1 points) and the Netherlands (1.7 points).

In contrast, the largest negative contributions corresponded to China (-0.4 points), Russia (-0.3 points), Algeria (-0.1 points) and Ukraine (-0.1 points).

By autonomous communities, the community that experienced a higher interannual variation rate of its exports in the period was the Canary Islands (121.9%), followed by the Balearic Islands (61.2%) and the Community of Madrid (43.2%). On the other hand, the only community in which exports fell was Castilla y León (-0.5%).

As for data on exporters, in the analyzed period a total of 83,450 exporters of more than 1,000 euros were recorded, 0.1% more than in the same period of the previous year, of which they had already exported 50,000 or more euros in the of the year a total of 37,440 exporters, 5.9% more than in the same period of 2021. In total, they exported for a value of 251,536.2 million euros, 99.8% of total exports and 25.1 % more than in the same period of the previous year.

In reference to regular exporters of more than 1,000 euros, --those who have exported more than 1,000 euros in the reference year and in each of the three immediately preceding years-- in the period January-August 2022, 41,796 exporters were counted , 27.1% of the total and 3.2% more than in the same period of the previous year, which exported a value of 230,294.1 million euros, 91.4% of the total and 24.3% more than in the same period of the previous year.