Press Release 16/07/2021
Exports from the Basque Country exceeded 2,171 million euros in May 2021, 39.2% more
The accumulated total for the first five months registered a 25.8% increase in exports and a surplus in excess of 2,400 million euros
According to Eustat data, in May 2021 exports of goods from the Basque Country, with a value of 2,171.6 million euros, were up 39.2% compared to the same month of the previous year, the second highest record since December 2019. Non-energy exports rose by 41.9% and energy exports fell by 3.5%.
Imports, on the other hand, with a total volume of 1,733.8 million, rose by 62.2%, with growth in energy products,169.9%, and in non-energy products, 45.2%.
In May 2021, the trade balance – exports minus imports – was positive and reached 437.8 million euros, with a coverage rate of 125.2%.
For the fourth month in a row, all three provinces saw positive growth. The percentage increase in exports ranged from 29.7% in Gipuzkoa, 35.7% in Álava, to 50.6% in Bizkaia. In the case of Bizkaia, it is worth noting the 4.5% decrease in energy exports.
In Álava, most exports were in “Transport Material” and accounted for 55.2% of the total exported with an increase of 20.5%. Likewise, “Plastics & Rubber” (83.7%), “Metals and Manufactured” (48.1%) and “Electrical Equipment, Machinery & Devices” (45.3%), to name the four major customs duty groups, were all up. All the others – bar two, small amounts, which were down – also saw significant increases.
In Gipuzkoa, there was an increase in sales of “Metals and Manufactured” (45.7%), “Electrical Equipment, Machinery & Devices” (29.4%) and “Transport Material” (13.2%). Sales abroad also rose in all other sections, except for two.
Exports from Bizkaia followed the same trend as the other provinces, with an even more pronounced increase of 50.6%, a result of the upturns in “Transport Material” (242.3%), “Electrical Equipment, Machinery & Devices” (65.2%), “Plastics & Rubber” (77.1%) and “Metals and Manufactured” (20.3%). Only four customs duty groups had negative growth rates, notably among which is “Mineral & Energy Products” (-2.4%).
In May 2021 five countries (Germany, France, United States, United Kingdom and Norway) were our main clients, absorbing 48.8% of total exports from the Basque Country (worth 1,060.2 million). Two of these belong to the EU27, an entity that accounts for 59.3% of exports. This percentage would have been 65.2% for the former EU28.
Sales to the seven main destinations accounted for 53.9% of exports in May 2021. Sales increased to Portugal by 63.8%, to France by 36.0%, to the United Kingdom by 35.2%, to Italy by 25.1%, to Germany by 22.8%, to Belgium by 21.8% and to the Netherlands by 16.9%. Outside of the European Union, there were three countries that stood out: the United States with an increase of 57.5% in exports, Norway with 703.6% more and China with an increase of 39.1%.
Over half, specifically 54.4%, of all imports came from the EU27 and would have reached 57.1% for the erstwhile EU28. In the same month, Germany accounted for 28.1% of EU imports, a total of 264.9 million euros and a 34.7% increase, followed by France with 158.7 million euros and a rise of 66.0% and Italy with 100.1 million and a 66.4% increase. Outside of the EU-27, but within Europe, the United Kingdom came out on top with growth of 68.6% and 47.9 million euros.
For the rest of the world, the largest volume of imports came from Mexico, with 109.3 million (660.3% increase), China (108.1 million), Russia (91.3 million) and, some way behind, the United States (26.9 million) and Brazil (26.3 million).
Products traded in May 2021
In November, the ten main export duty groups accounted for 38.8% of exports, with a combined value of 843.0 million euros.
First, it is worth mentioning the significant increase in exports of “Vehicle parts and accessories”, with 126.9% growth. “New Rubber Tyres” (81.4%) also increased significantly. The positive trend is shared by the main customs duty groups given that, of the 25 most notable, only four showed negative growth rates, namely “Refined Petroleum Oils”, which decreased by 17.5%, “Seamless tubes and hollow profiles made of iron or steel” (-31.8%) and “Diesel and Electric Motor Units for Railway Tracks and Motorised Trams” (-23.8%). The sale of “Fishing boats and boats factory for the processing of marine products” from Bizkaia for an amount of 57.9 million euros in this period is striking.
This May, of the 25 main customs duty groups, six were within the vehicle sector and four of them occupied the top positions. This sector, with a year-on-year increase of 35.1%, managed to export 155.9 million more than in the same month of the previous year, a period in which economic activity in this type of industry was practically suspended. “Passenger cars with fewer than 10 seats” were up 11.3%, “Goods Transport Vehicles” increased by 28.5% and “Railway or Tramway Vehicle Parts” rose by 13.0%, in addition to those already mentioned.
In the case of imports, we can see that the product with the largest specific weight, “Petroleum oils or oils obtained from bituminous minerals”, which represents 13.9% of the total, saw an increase of 257.3% over May 2020, a trend shared by the 60 top customs duty groups in the import rankings if we exclude “Flat, hot-rolled iron or non-alloy steel products of a width exceeding 599mm”, a group that decreased by 33.8%.
Notably within this set of products were “Refined Petroleum Oils” which, with 124.0% more than in the same month of 2020, occupied second place in the month, followed by “Vehicle parts and accessories” with 141.2% more in imports and “Internal combustion engines, diesel or semi-diesel” with a 60.7% increase, to mention some of the most relevant customs duty groups this month.
ANNUAL ACCUMULATE – FIRST FIVE MONTHS OF 2021
The foreign trade balance generated a surplus of 2,404.1 million euros and the coverage rate stood at 130.5%
For the first five months of 2021 as a whole, and for exports from the Basque Country, an increase of 25.8% was registered compared to the same period of the previous year, which translated into a rise of 2,110.5 million euros. The total amount of exports in this period stood at 10,281.3 million euros; the greatest contribution to this figure was that of Bizkaia, with 4,088.6 million (39.8% of the total), followed by Gipuzkoa with 3,122.8 million and Álava with 3,069.8 million.
Bizkaia exports were the largest in the Basque Country, with a year-on-year rise of 28.3%, 902.8 million euros up on 2020. In Álava the increase was even greater and reached 34.7%, up 791.1 million, and in Gipuzkoa it was 15.4%, up 416.6 million.
Considering the type of product exported, there was a 7.3% decline in exports of “Energy Products” while “Non-energy Products” were up 28%.
The ten most exported products (export duty groups) during the first five months of 2021 accounted for 40.1% of exports, reaching a total of 4,127.1 million. Only one recorded a decline compared with the same period of 2020: “Refined Petroleum Oils” (15.4% less). There were considerable rates of growth in the other products in this group, particularly in the vehicle sector. For example, “Railway or Tramway Vehicle Parts” registered an increase of 102.5% and “Goods Transport Vehicles” were up 54.5%. Similar trends were seen in “Passenger cars with fewer than 10 seats”, which rose by 51.1%, “Vehicle parts and accessories”, which were up 34.6%, and “New Rubber Tyres”, which registered an increase of 32.8%.
The export ranking in these first five months of 2021 situates Germany as the prime receiver country of Basque exports, with 1,778.0 million euros and 17.3% of the total exported. After Germany came France (1,609.9 million), the United Kingdom (706.2 million), the United States (621.9 million), Belgium (552.1 million) and Italy (532.1 million). These six countries accounted for 56.4% of exports. For all of the aforementioned nations, with the exception of the United States, most of these exports were in the “Vehicle parts and accessories” customs duty group. Notably among them was Germany, where 53.2% of exports were of products pertaining to this customs duty chapter. In the case of the United States, most exports, with 27.0%, corresponded to the “Boilers, Machinery, Devices and Mechanical Appliances and parts thereof” chapter.
Cumulative imports for the Basque Country as a whole during the period in question amounted to 7,877.2 million euros. Comparing this figure in year-on-year terms, we see that it is 1,257.6 million euros more than that registered for the same period in 2020. This 19.0% increase was due to the fact that all three provinces significantly overcame the data from the previous year. Bizkaia, with imports worth 4,239.6 million, recorded 13.1% growth for this period, i.e. 491.6 million more than in the same period of the previous year, Álava was up 31.5% (440.3 million more), and even Gipuzkoa exceeded the percentage of Bizkaia and reached a 22.1% increase with 325.7 million more than the accumulated total the year before for these five months.
Imports of “Energy Products” over this period saw a slight increase of 3.1%, reaching an accumulated total of 1,489.7 million, which represents 44.1 million more than in 2020.
The top Basque exports were “Petroleum oils or oils obtained from bituminous minerals”, with 1,042.2 million euros, despite the 6.0% decrease accumulated in this period. On the other hand, Basque exports of “Refined Petroleum Oils” were up as much as 124.6%. There were also increases in purchases abroad of “Vehicle parts and accessories” (45.9%), “Soya Beans, Whether or Not Broken” (43.3% more), “Internal combustion engines, diesel or semi-diesel” (33.1%), “Remelting scrap ingots of iron or steel” (64.7%) and “Unwrought aluminium” (102.2%).
As regards country of origin, Germany accounted for 15.8% of the imports of the Basque Country accumulated up to May 2021, followed by France with 9.9%, Italy with 5.7%, the Netherlands with 3.4% and the United Kingdom, also with 3.4%.
Foreign trade in goods in the Basque Country during the first five months of 2021 had a positive balance of 2,404.1 million euros, which is 852.9 million more than was registered during the same period of the previous year and maintains a positive coverage rate of 130.5%.
For further information:
Eustat - Euskal Estatistika Erakundea / Basque Statistics Institute
C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz
Press Service: servicioprensa@eustat.es Tel: 945 01 75 62