Press Release 21/09/2023

FOREIGN TRADE STATISTICS (ECOMEX). July 2023

Goods exports fell by 6.8% in the Basque Country in July 2023, dragged down by energy products

Exports of non-energy products, on the other hand, rose by 4.4%

In July 2023 and compared to the same month of the previous year, exports of goods from the Basque Country (2,505 million euros) recorded a nominal decrease of 6.8%, mainly due to a 79.2% drop in energy products, whilst non-energy products were up 4.4%, according to Eustat data.

Imports (2,277 million) also registered a downturn, this time of 20.3%. Non-energy imports fell by 2.4% and energy imports were down 43.1%. This decrease is less pronounced if we make the year-on-year comparison in tonnes imported (-3.6%), given that this figure stood at 1,390,344 tonnes in July 2022 and 1,340,809 tonnes in July 2023.

In July 2023, there was a positive trade balance in the order of 228 million euros, with a coverage rate of 110.0%.

Looking at Basque exports this July, only Álava recorded a positive growth rate, up 17.7%. By contrast, the year-on-year rates were negative for both Gipuzkoa (-6.5%) and, in particular, Bizkaia (-22.6%). Non-energy exports grew by 17.7% in Álava, rose 4.1% in Bizkaia and were down 6.7% in Gipuzkoa. Energy exports decreased by 80.1% in the case of Bizkaia, compared to the same month of the previous year.

In Álava, most exports were in “Transport material” (56.2% of the total), with growth of 21.1% for a total of 477 million in exports, and “Metals and articles thereof” (16.3% of the total), which rose by 3.7%, representing the two largest “customs duty groups” this month. Significant growth was recorded in “Electrical equipment, machinery & devices” (51.7%), with exports amounting to 67.6 million euros.

In Gipuzkoa, three customs duty groups accounted for more than three quarters of international trade (76.4%), although they performed differently in the year-on-year comparison: “Electrical equipment, machinery & devices” (-15.0%), “Transport material” (43.1%) and “Metals and articles thereof” (-13.1%).

Bizkaia saw an upturn in exports of “Transport material” (65.1%) and “Electrical equipment, machinery & devices” (19.2%), but there was a steep decline in “Mineral and energy products” (-79.3%), with 287 million euros less than in the same month of the previous year, a decrease of 292,809 tonnes.

Source/destination countries, July 2023

In July 2023, five countries (Germany, France, the United States, Italy and the United Kingdom) were the Basque Country’s biggest customers, absorbing 51.7% (1,295.5 million) of the total exported. Three of these belong to the EU27, which accounts for 62%.

Exports to Germany this month rose to 452.6 million euros, with those of “Passenger cars with fewer than 10 seats” (121 million), “Goods transport vehicles” (100 million) and “Vehicle parts and accessories” (25 million) predominating, for a total of 398 different products.

644 types of products were sent to France, accounting for a total of 363.6 million euros. Standing out among these were those related to the vehicle sector: “New rubber tyres” (25.7 million), “Vehicle parts and accessories” (23.1 million), “Passenger cars with fewer than 10 seats” (20.7 million) and “Goods transport vehicles” (12.5 million). Of particular note was the 19.7 million in sales of “Petroleum oils or oils obtained from bituminous minerals” to this country.

The United States came in third place with 165.6 million, with the majority of exports in “Goods transport vehicles” (22.7 million), “Seamless tubes and hollow profiles made of iron or steel” (18 million), “Biodiesel and mixtures thereof” (12.7 million) and “Firearms for hunting; starting pistols, signal pistols and line-throwing guns” (9.9 million), totalling 358 different products.

Exports to Italy amounted to 163.1 million euros and this month’s transactions were dominated by “Refined petroleum oils” (16.2 million), “New rubber tyres” (10.6 million), “Passenger cars with fewer than 10 seats” (9.4 million), “Goods transport vehicles” (8.9 million) and “Diesel and electric motor units for railway tracks and motorised trams” (8.6 million), for a total of 412 products.

The United Kingdom accounted for 150.6 million of total exports from the Basque Country, of which 15.6 million corresponded to “Passenger cars with fewer than 10 seats”, 14.3 million to “Iron or non-alloy steel sections” and 10.6 million to “Turbo-reactors, turbo-propellers and other gas turbines, and their parts and components”, totalling 397 different products.

Exports to Russia (4.8 million) primarily consisted of “Machines for washing, filling, sealing and labelling containers and packing machinery”, with 2.3 million out of a total of 19 types of product.

This month, 45% of Basque imports came from the EU27. Among the most notable countries were Germany (322.8 million), with imports consisting mainly of “Vehicle parts and accessories” (55.4 million) and “Internal combustion engines, diesel or semi-diesel”, with 44.3 million; and the United States, with 298.8 million, of which 96.7 million corresponded to “Refined petroleum oils”, 79 million to “Petroleum gas and other hydrocarbon gases”, 50.4 million to “Petroleum oils or oils obtained from bituminous minerals” and 31.5 million to “Soya beans, whether or not broken”. The top product imported from China was “Electric accumulators and parts thereof”, with 31.8 million out of a total of 157.5 million. The most sought-after product from France was “Remelting scrap ingots of iron or steel”, with 21.6 million for a total of 150.6 million. Almost all imports from Norway consisted of “Petroleum oils or oils obtained from bituminous minerals”, with 106.8 million out of a total of 116.8 million.

Russian imports this month amounted to 42 million euros and included “Petroleum gas and other hydrocarbon gases” (33.5 million), in this case all of it “Natural gas”, and “Unwrought aluminium” (6.7 million).

This month, energy imports were distributed as follows: 338.7 million from America (47.3%), with 226.8 million coming from the United States, 34.9 million from Brazil, 31.5 million from Mexico, 25.9 million from Canada and 17.2 million from Venezuela; 176.7 million from Europe (24.7%), of which 108.3 million came from Norway, 33.5 million from Russia, 15.1 million from Belgium, 11.6 million from the Netherlands and 6.7 million from Italy; 115.9 million from Asia (16.2%), of which 62.6 million corresponded to Iraq and 53.1 million to Kazakhstan; and 84.5 million from Africa (11.8%), of which 65 million came from Libya and 19.5 million from Nigeria.

Products traded in July 2023

A more detailed look reveals that in July 2023 the ten main customs duty groups accounted for 38.6% of exports, with a combined value of 965.7 million euros.

Of particular relevance within this group were the increases recorded in customs duty groups related to the vehicle sector: “Passenger cars with fewer than 10 seats” grew by 33.0% (265.8 million in exports), “Goods transport vehicles” by 31.2% (179.5 million), “Vehicle parts and accessories” by 14.5% (157.2 million) and “New rubber tyres” by 15.7% (108.8 million). There was also growth in “Chain and parts thereof, of iron or steel” (301.3% with 25.2 million), “Petroleum oils or oils obtained from bituminous minerals” (19.7 million in exports) and “Fishing vessels and factory ships for processing marine products” (30.3 million).

Ten of the 25 main export groups registered negative growth rates, most notably “Aluminium sheets and strips of a thickness exceeding 0.2 mm”, with a fall of 46.6%, and “Refined petroleum oils”, with an 89.0% decrease in exports compared to July 2022.

In the case of imports, and with regard to the top customs duty groups, the most significant increases were recorded in “Electric accumulators and parts thereof” (117.8%), “Internal combustion engines, diesel or semi-diesel” (77.3%), “Vehicle parts and accessories” (51.5%) and “Refined petroleum oils” (31.3%).

By contrast, the largest group, “Petroleum oils or oils obtained from bituminous minerals” (19.7% of the total), saw a decline of 45.7%, with imports down 377 million on the same month of 2022, making a purchase total of 448.7 million. This sharp downward trend was also seen in “Petroleum gas and other hydrocarbon gases” (132.3 million in imports), which posted a drop of 60.5%. Other groups with reduced imports were “Soya beans, whether or not broken” (-34.8% with 44.3 million euros in imports) and “Flat-rolled products of iron or non-alloy steel, of a width of 600 mm or more, hot-rolled, not clad, plated or coated” (-27.2% and 43.9 million).

ÁLAVA. Exports during July 2023

In Álava, exports grew by 17.7% compared to the same month of the previous year. This positive performance was seen in practically all of the ten main customs duty groups, many of which were related to the vehicle sector. “Goods transport vehicles” (179 million) recorded a growth rate of 31.2%, with 42.6 million euros more than in the previous year. There were also upturns in “Passenger cars with fewer than 10 seats” (17.3% and 232 million in exports), with an increase of 34.3 million, and “New rubber tyres” (16.4% for 41.9 million in exports), among other customs duty groups.

BIZKAIA. Exports during July 2023

Exports from the province of Bizkaia were down 22.6%. “Refined petroleum oils”, fourth in the export ranking for Bizkaia, was the customs duty group responsible for this decline, given that it plummeted by 89.9%. In July 2023, exports for this group amounted to just 34.5 million compared to more than 343 million in the same month of the previous year, a decrease of 308.6 million. There was also a drop in exports of “Stainless steel bars and sections” (-37.3%), although they still managed to reach 25.5 million euros. Of particular note among the main customs duty groups was the growth seen in exports of “Petroleum oils or oils obtained from bituminous minerals”, “Chain and parts thereof, of iron or steel”, “Vehicle parts and accessories” and “Unfilleted frozen fish”.

GIPUZKOA. Exports during July 2023

Exports from Gipuzkoa fell by 6.5% this month. Growth of more than 100% was recorded in “Vehicles for transporting 10 or more people, including the driver” (117.8% and 23.4 million in exports), “Electric motors and generators (except electrical generating sets)” (162.3%), “Railway or tramway vehicle parts” (88.3% with 22.5 million in exports) and “Fishing vessels and factory ships for processing marine products” (30.3 million in exports).

CUMULATIVE TOTAL (JANUARY-JULY) 2023: goods exports were up 2.2%, the trade balance generated a surplus of 3,113.4 million euros and the coverage rate stood at 118.9%

For the first seven months of 2023 as a whole, and for exports from the Basque Country, an increase of 2.0% was registered compared to the same period of the previous year, which represented a rise of 377.6 million euros. The total amount of exports for this period stood at 19,596.1 million euros; the greatest contribution to this figure was that of Bizkaia, with 7,225.8 million (36.9% of the total), followed by Álava (6,367.6 million) and Gipuzkoa (6,002.7 million).

Exports from Álava posted a year-on-year increase of 839.9 million compared to the same period in 2022 and a relative rise of 15.2%. Gipuzkoa saw a much more moderate increase (3.6% with 209.7 million more than in 2022), while in Bizkaia there was a negative trend, with exports down 672 million euros, representing an 8.5% drop in its growth rate.

In terms of the type of product exported, "Non-energy products" presented a positive trend with an increase of 1,160.8 million, but this was not the case for "Energy products", which were 47.5% lower than those of the cumulative total until June 2022 (down 783.2 million).

The ten most exported products (export duty groups) accounted for 40.5% of exports, reaching a total of 7,937.9 million, and six of them presented positive growth rates compared to the same period in 2022. Standing out among these were “Passenger cars with fewer than 10 seats”, which maintained the highest volume of exports in the Basque Country, with 1,896 million exported, a rise of 28.0%, and “Goods transport vehicles” (1,349.1 million), with growth of 23.4%. “Seamless tubes and hollow profiles made of iron or steel”, “New rubber tyres” and “Vehicle parts and accessories”, up 24.2%, 17.6% and 8.3%, respectively, completed the list of the largest groups with the best performance in this period.

On the other hand, it is worth highlighting the significant decrease in “Refined petroleum oils” (-52.6% with 799.3 million less than in 2022), which is not due solely to the decline in prices, given that there was also a significant drop of 45% in the number of tonnes exported, which went from 1,834,917 tonnes in 2022 to 1,009,389 tonnes for the cumulative total for 2023.

The ranking of countries to which Basque Country exports were sent during the period considered was topped by Germany, with 16.5% of the total. Germany was followed by France (15.0%), the United States (7.7%), the United Kingdom (6.5%) and Italy (5.7%). Between them, these five countries accounted for 51.4% of exports.

Cumulative imports for the Basque Country as a whole amounted to 16,482.7 million euros. In year-on-year terms, this figure is 642.2 million less than that registered for the same period in 2022. Bizkaia, with imports worth 9,606.5 million, recorded a decrease of 7.1%, that is, 729.5 million less than the same period of the previous year. Gipuzkoa registered a drop of 6.5%, down 218.6 million euros, with imports amounting to 3,149 million. Lastly, Álava was the only province to see a rise in imports (8.9%), with 305.9 million more than in the previous year, reaching 3,727.3 million euros in this period.

Imports of “Energy products” fell by 16.7% compared to the same period of the previous year, however, they were up 1.6% for “Non-energy products”.

Foreign trade of goods in the Basque Country had a positive balance of 3,113.4 million euros in the first seven months of 2023 and maintained a positive coverage rate of 118.9%.

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