Press Release 17/11/2022

FOREIGN TRADE STATISTICS (ECOMEX). September 2022

Exports of goods from the Basque Country rose by 21.8% in September 2022

The cumulative foreign trade balance for the first nine months of 2022 generated a surplus of 2,366 million euros

In September 2022 and compared to the same month of the previous year, exports of goods from the Basque Country (2,850 million euros) registered an increase of 21.8%, due to a rise of 49.0% in energy products and 19.8% in non-energy products, according to Eustat data.

Imports (2,510 million) saw growth of 33.2%. Non-energy imports rose by 26.2%, and energy imports increased by 56.8%.

In September 2022, there was a positive trade balance of 340.4 million and a coverage rate of 113.6%.

All three provinces of the Basque Country recorded positive growth rates, with percentage increases of 42.4% in Álava, 16.0% in Bizkaia and 11.3% in Gipuzkoa. Non-energy exports grew by 10.1% in Bizkaia, 42.5% in Álava and 10.9% in Gipuzkoa. Energy exports were up 47.2% in the case of Bizkaia.

In Álava, most exports this month were in “Transport material” (62% of the total), with an increase of 60.5% for a total of 562.9 million in exports; “Metals and articles thereof” (with a year-on-year increase of 36.5%) and “Plastics, rubber and articles thereof” (7.8%), these being the three largest “customs duty groups” for yet another month.

In Gipuzkoa, sales rose in the two main customs duty groups: “Electrical equipment, machinery & devices” (4.1%) and “Metals and articles thereof” (24.2%), but third in the ranking, “Transport material”, fell by 7.2%.

Bizkaia, on the other hand, saw upturns in exports of “Transport material” (35.8%) and “Mineral and energy products” (46.1%), while there was a decline in exports of “Metals and articles thereof” (-5.4%) and “Electrical equipment, machinery & devices” (-13.3%).

Source/destination countries, September 2022

In September 2022, five countries (Germany, France, the United States, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom) were the Basque Country’s biggest customers, absorbing 50.8% (1,448.1 million) of the total exported. Three of these belong to the EU27, which accounts for 64.5%.

Exports to Germany grew by 40.0%, to France by 2.3%, to the United States by 47.4%, to the Netherlands by 17.7% and to the United Kingdom by 11.6%. There was also a rise in exports to Italy (13.1%), Portugal (20.4%) and Belgium (7.4%). Outside Europe, sales to Morocco (137.6%), Mexico (74.7%), Brazil (36.0%) and China (4.7%) increased, while exports to Russia (-75.4%) decreased significantly.

46.0% of Basque imports came from the EU27. One of the standout European countries in terms of imports was Poland, with a year-on-year increase of 73.1%. There was also a rise in imports from Germany (31.4%), Ireland (26.4%), the Netherlands (16.7%), Portugal (16.0%) and Belgium (16.0%). In the case of the United Kingdom, there was a drop of 11.9%. Looking at the rest of the world, there were also increases in imports from Brazil (388.2% with 244 million in imports), China (40.4% and 222.5 million) and Iraq (174.4 million). In contrast, there was a decline in imports from the United States (-21.7% with 102.6 million) and Mexico (-20.0% and 51.9 million). In the case of Russia, there was a drop of 96%, going from 121.4 million in September 2021 to 4.9 million in the same month of 2022, with all goods imported this month being “non-energy” in nature.

Basque energy imports were distributed as follows: 298 million from Asia (44.1%), 248 million from America (36.7%), of which 176.5 million came from Brazil, 88 million from Africa (13.1%) and 41 million from Europe (6.1%).

Products traded September 2022

A more detailed look reveals that in September 2022 the ten main customs duty groups accounted for 44.7% of exports, with a combined value of 1,274.6 million euros.

Of particular relevance within this group was the increase in “Goods not specifically covered by the customs tariff” (139.4% and 30 million more than in the same month of the previous year); the cumulative total of exports for this customs duty group up to September 2022 (354.6 million) was almost the same as in the two previous years (367.7 million). If we widen the scope to include the 25 most notable customs duty groups, it is worth highlighting “Unfilleted frozen fish” (189.6%), which went from 9 to 26 million in exports. Other products that registered a sharp rise were “Goods Transport Vehicles” (126.1% with 178.7 million in exports), “Seamless tubes and hollow profiles made of iron or steel” (124.8% with 49.4 million) and “Biodiesel and mixtures thereof” (124.5% and 26.8 million in exports).

There was also considerable growth in groups such as: “Bars and profiles of other steel alloys and hollow bars for drilling” (61.9% and 36.9 million in exports), “Refined petroleum oils” (58.5% and 79 million more than in the same month of the previous year), “Passenger cars with fewer than 10 seats” (39.8% with 304.2 million in exports) and “Vehicle parts and accessories” (34.0% and 215.5 million in exports).

In the case of imports, the largest customs duty group, “Petroleum oils or oils obtained from bituminous minerals” (23.7% of the total), saw growth of 160.1%, 365.5 million more than in the same month of 2021, making a total of 593.8 million in imports, with 176.5 million coming from Brazil, 174.4 million from Iraq, 117.7 million from Saudi Arabia, 53.8 million from Libya, 47.7 million from Mexico and 23.6 million from the United States.

This positive trend was seen in the majority of the main customs duty groups, with significant increases in “Internal combustion engines, diesel or semi-diesel” (145.1% and 44.8 million in imports), “Unwrought aluminium” (138.0% and 40 million), “Electric accumulators and parts thereof” (127.2% and 31 million) and “Soya beans, whether or not broken” (110.8% and 95 million).

There was a steep decline in imports of “Petroleum gas and other hydrocarbon gases” (-55.2% and 42 million less than in the same month of the previous year), “Refined petroleum oils” (-71.3% and 83 million less) and “Remelting scrap ingots of iron or steel” (-32.3% and 17 million less).

ÁLAVA. Exports during September 2022

In Álava, exports grew by 42.4%, largely due to the sharp rises seen this month in “Passenger cars with fewer than 10 seats” (40.7% with 87.5 million more than in the previous year for a total of 302.3 million in exports), “Goods Transport Vehicles” (129.6% with 178.5 million in exports) and “Seamless tubes and hollow profiles made of iron or steel” (524.0% with 41.5 million in exports, 34.8 million more than in the same month of the previous year). Other groups that contributed to this export effort were “Vehicle parts and accessories” (24.1% with 58.7 million) and “Parts of powered or non-powered aircraft, manned or unmanned, and parts of satellites and spacecraft”, with 9.5 million in exports.

BIZKAIA. Exports during September 2022

Exports from the province of Bizkaia were up 16.0% on the previous year. Of the ten main customs duty groups, which accounted for 49% of the total, the largest contributors to the export effort were: “Refined petroleum oils” (with an increase of 56.3% for a total of 209.9 million in exports), “Goods not specifically covered by the customs tariff” (149.1% with 48.5 million in exports), “Vehicle parts and accessories” (46.1% with 86.4 million) and “New rubber tyres” (17.1% and 70.6 million).

GIPUZKOA. Exports during September 2022

Exports from Gipuzkoa were up 11.3%; of particular note among the main customs duty groups were the increases registered in “Diesel and electric motor units for railway tracks and motorised trams” (with a total of 17.5 million in exports, of which 8.2 million went to Norway, 4.9 million to Israel and 4.4 million to Belgium), “Iron or non-alloy steel sections” (21.7% and 68.4 million), “Vehicle parts and accessories” (29.4% and 70.5 million) and “Lifts, Escalators, Transporters, etc.” (149.3% and 19.6 million in exports).

CUMULATIVE TOTAL (JANUARY-SEPTEMBER) 2022: the foreign trade balance generated a surplus of 2,366 million euros and the coverage rate stood at 110.8%

For the first nine months of 2022 as a whole, and for exports from the Basque Country, a year-on-year increase of 29.7% was registered, which represented 5,548 million euros more than in the same period of the previous year. The total amount of exports for this period stood at 24,239 million euros; the greatest contribution to the boost in exports came from Bizkaia, with 10,021 million (41% of the total), followed by Gipuzkoa (7,343 million) and Álava (6,875 million).

Bizkaia exports also saw the highest year-on-year rise (32.7%), 2,470 million more than in 2021. In Álava, exports rose by 29.5% (1,568 million more) and they were up 25.9% in Gipuzkoa (1,510 million more).

Considering the type of product exported, growth can be seen in exports of both “Energy products”, with 1,146.3 million more, and “Non-energy products”, which exceeded the cumulative total for the same period of 2021 by 4,401.7 million.

The ten most exported products (export duty groups) accounted for 41.2% of exports, reaching a total of 9,984.8 million.

“Refined petroleum oils” was the group with the highest volume of exports from the Basque Country, with 1,960.9 million in exports and a growth rate of 134.5%.

Among the products with the highest growth were “Diesel and electric motor units for railway tracks and motorised trams”, with 841.0% and 323.4 million exported, and “Seamless tubes and hollow profiles made of iron or steel” (117.1% and 475.7 million). For the other products in the top ten ranking, noteworthy growth ranged from 17.1% (1,847 million in exports) for “Passenger cars with fewer than 10 seats” to 118.0% (354.6 million) for “Goods not specifically covered by the customs tariff”.

Other significant increases include those recorded in “Iron or non-alloy steel sections”, “Goods Transport Vehicles”, “Vehicle parts and accessories” and “New rubber tyres”, with positive variations of 47.6%, 28.5%, 22.3% and 19.2%.

The ranking of countries to which Basque Country exports were sent was topped by Germany (3,769 million), very closely followed by France (3,727 million) and at a greater distance by the Netherlands (1,647 million), the United States (1,557 million) and the United Kingdom (1,496 million). Between them, these five countries accounted for 50.3% of Basque exports. As regards the coverage rates for these countries, it was 137.3% for Germany. For the remainder, these rates stood at or exceeded 200%, except in the case of the United States, which, with 94.8%, did not reach the break-even point between exports and imports, thus creating a slight deficit in the trade balance with regard to this country.

Cumulative imports for the Basque Country as a whole amounted to 21,873 million euros. Comparing this figure in year-on-year terms, we see that it exceeded the equivalent for the same period of 2021 by 6,967 million. This increase (46.7%) was largely due to the fact that the province of Bizkaia (with imports of 13,353.9 million) registered an upturn of 60.3%, that is, a rise of 5,023 million compared to the same period of the previous year. Imports also increased in Álava, up 30.7% with 990 million euros more, and in Gipuzkoa, where there was a rise of 28.5% and 954 million euros more; the value of imports in these two provinces stood at 4,218.5 and 4,300.5 million euros, respectively.

Imports of “Energy products” were 107.8% higher than in the same period of the previous year and those of “Non-energy products” were up 31.0%.

Foreign trade of goods in the Basque Country during the first nine months of 2022 had a positive balance of 2,366.5 million euros, maintaining a positive coverage rate of 110.8%.

For further information:

Eustat - Euskal Estatistika Erakundea / Basque Statistics Institute C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz Press Service: servicioprensa@eustat.eus Tel.: 945 01 75 62