Between January and May, the Spanish trade deficit increased to 26.569 billion euros, 6.5 times more than in 2021. This is the highest level since the Great Recession of 2008, when it reached 42.63 billion euros.
The figures for exports of goods to other countries have been above the maximums of the historical series, which began in 1995, since 2022 began. In the cumulative figure between January and May, sales soared by 24.4% to almost 156,000 million euros, which was a new record. A milestone that, as in previous months, has been dampened by the unstoppable increase in the price of energy raw materials, which has pushed up the cost of imports to Great Recession levels.
The deterioration stems from the fact that in the first five months of the year, purchases of energy products (oil, gas and coal) rose 140% year-on-year to 35,481 million euros, the highest figure since 1995.
