Exports from the A.C. of the Basque Country totalled 3,853.7 million euros in the second quarter of 2005, according to EUSTAT data. This data reflects 1.8% growth in comparison with the figures reached in the second quarter of 2004. Imports came to 3,695.5 million euros in the second quarter of 2005, exceeding purchases made abroad in the same period of last year by 12.6%.

Both exports and imports showed varying inter-annual evolution for the three provinces of the A.C. of the Basque Country. In the second quarter a rise was registered for exports from Gipuzkoa (16.3%) and Bizkaia (11.7%), but not so for those from Álava, where there was a reduction of 19.2% in inter-annual terms. The strong performance of exports from Gipuzkoa was chiefly buoyed up by the evolution of Electric material (26.6%) and Transport material (32.3%). The figures for Bizkaia were largely down to the trend of Metal and manufactured (30.2%) and Mineral Products (18.1%). The fall in exports from Álava had its origin in the reduction of Transport material (-39.1%).

As regards imports, there was notable growth in the second quarter for Bizkaia (26.0%) with Mineral products (45.9%) standing out; Gipuzkoa increased its imports by the much more modest rate of 3.9% and Álava reduced its imports (-8.3%) due to the influence of imports of Transport material (-33.7%).

Balance for the first six months of 2005

In the first six months of 2005, exports grew by 1.9% and imports by 19.8%

In the first six months of 2005, exports from the A.C. of the Basque Country came to 7,071.3 million euros and imports totalled 7,118.6 million euros. Therefore, exports registered an inter-annual rise of 1.9%, while the inter-annual rate for imports rose to 19.8%.

The total volume of transactions (exports + imports) went from 12,877.2 million in the first six months of 2004 to 14,189.9 million euros in the first six months of 2005, or in other words, 10.2% more than in the same period a year earlier.

The six-monthly foreign balance shows, for the first time since 1992, a trade deficit of 47.2 million, although the figures for the second quarter allayed the deficit of the first three months of 2005, when it came to 205.5 million.

Exports to the European Union-25 registered a 5.1% rise, with those going to Italy growing by 20.4%, to Germany by 7.3%, to the United Kingdom by 3.8%, to Portugal by 5.7% and to Belgium by 30.9%, to mention the most significant countries. There was a decrease, however, for those going to France (-0.2%), the Netherlands (-8.6%), Ireland (-4.2%) and Poland (-3.5%), among others. Imports coming from the European Union grew by 9.0% in the first six months of 2005, when there was an increase for our main customers/suppliers such as France (0.8%), Germany (6.5%), Italy (6.9%) and the United Kingdom (5.5%).

The tariff duty section with the greatest relative weight in the six-monthly exports as a whole was Metal and manufactured (27%). This branch had inter-annual evolution of 19.3% in the first six months of 2005, while the Transport material section, the second most important in volume, suffered a setback as regards its previous position of 12.7%. Electric material, which occupied the third position in terms of volume of exports as a whole in the A.C. of the Basque Country, obtained a 6.8% increase.

As regards imports, the impact of the rise mainly stemmed from these same three tariff duty sections plus that of Mineral products: Mineral products (45.8%), Metal and manufactured (26.7%), Transport material (8.9%) and Electric material (4.8%).

By province, only exports from Gipuzkoa accumulated growth of 15.3% in the first six months, whereas those from Bizkaia and Álava suffered a reduction of 6.6% and 1.0% respectively. The increase of exports from Gipuzkoa was sustained by the performance of Transport material (33.7%), Electric material (18.1%) and Metal and manufactured (7.9%). The falling off in Bizkaia came from Transport material (-47.7%), Energy products (-20.3%) and Electric material (-5.4%), despite the positive inter-annual evolution of Metal and manufactured (26.4%). The diminishing of exports from Álava was chiefly due to the reduction of Transport material (-13.3%).