Spanish exports grow 5.5% in July; trade deficit drops 6.1%

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Spain’s trade balance put in a good showing in July, with exports growing by 8.9% and imports by 6.4% on a year-on-year basis. The trade deficit declined by 24% to €1.396 billion. In the seven months to July, it fell 6% to  €12.876 billion, thanks to a 5.5% rise in exports and a 4.5% increase in imports.

As regards the impact of  the slowdown in the emerging economies, Spanish exports to Brazil dropped by 9%, but this had hardly any effect on the overall figures. Chinese exports rose by 8% year-on-year, excluding the effect of the yuan’s depreciation in August.

Spain’s aggregate results are in line with the EU’s, where exports grew 5.4% in January-July, while registering an improvement over the eurozone’s 4.9% rise. Amongst the major EU economies, only Germany’s export figures exceeded those of Spain.

Spanish exports to the EU accounted for 64.6% of the total in the seven months to July, compared with  63.6% a year earlier, posting a 7.2% increase over the period.  Exports to the eurozone remained more or less unchanged, accounting for 50.5% of the total. Trade with Spain’s main European partners grew due to the economic recovery : Germany by 7.3%, France by 5.1% and Italy by 10.8%. In the rest of the EU, trade with the United Kingdom rose by 8%.

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The Corner
The Corner has a team of on-the-ground reporters in capital cities ranging from New York to Beijing. Their stories are edited by the teams at the Spanish magazine Consejeros (for members of companies’ boards of directors) and at the stock market news site Consenso Del Mercado (market consensus). They have worked in economics and communication for over 25 years.