Press Release 20/05/2024

FOREIGN TRADE STATISTICS (ECOMEX). March 2024

Exports from the Basque Country fell by 23.7% in March 2024

In the cumulative total for the first quarter, the decrease stood at 15.9% and all three provinces posted negative figures

In March 2024, exports of goods from the Basque Country amounted to 2,528.9 million euros, 23.7% down on the same month of the previous year, according to Eustat data. By product, energy exports were up 25.9% and non-energy exports were down 26%.

Imports registered a downturn of 17.1%, which meant a decrease of 6.8% for energy products and 20.6% for non-energy products.

There was a positive trade balance of 398 million euros, with a coverage rate of 118.7%.

This month, exports from Álava saw a drop of 23.9%, in Bizkaia they fell by 22.3% and in Gipuzkoa they were down 24.9%. In the case of Bizkaia, energy exports were up 28.3% compared to the same month of the previous year.

When analysing these trends, it must be taken into account that exports in March 2023 reached a record 3,312.3 million euros.

Products traded in March 2024

A more detailed look at the products reveals that in March 2024 the ten main customs duty groups accounted for 39.5% of exports, with a combined value of 999.4 million euros.

In the top 25 customs duty groups, noteworthy increases were recorded in four of them: “Refined petroleum oils” (22.5% and 166.4 million in exports), “Diesel and electric motor units for railway tracks and motorised trams” (37.6% and 42.4 million), “Aluminium sheets and strips of a thickness exceeding 0.2 mm” (86.7%) and “Other machinery and miscellaneous mechanical appliances not included elsewhere” (164.8%).

“Passenger cars with fewer than 10 seats” fell by 35.6%, “Goods transport vehicles” by 12.4%, “New rubber tyres” by 39.8%, “Seamless tubes and hollow profiles made of iron or steel” by 53.6%, “Vehicle parts and accessories” by 16.2% and “Iron or non-alloy steel sections” by 51.5%.

In the case of imports, and with regard to the top 25 customs duty groups, the most significant increases were recorded in “Petroleum oils or oils obtained from bituminous minerals” (2.7% and 382.0 million in imports), “Refined petroleum oils” (19.1% and 215.9 million), “Internal combustion engines, diesel or semi-diesel” (15.8%), “Vehicle parts and accessories” (8.9%) and “Unwrought nickel, whether or not alloyed” (46.7%).

The most significant decreases occurred in “Electric motors and generators (except electrical generating sets)” (-65.8%), “Soya beans, whether or not broken” (-53.4%), “Ferro-alloys” (-44.6%), “Flat-rolled products of iron or non-alloy steel, of a width of 600 mm or more, clad, plated or coated” (-37.6%), “Remelting scrap ingots of iron or steel” (-35.9%), “Flat-rolled products of iron or non-alloy steel, of a width of 600 mm or more, hot-rolled, not clad, plated or coated” (-32.6%) and “Electric accumulators and parts thereof” (-21.9%).

ÁLAVA. Exports during March 2024

In Álava, exports fell by 23.9% compared to the same month of the previous year. This decrease was primarily seen in “Passenger cars with fewer than 10 seats” (175.3 million), with a drop of 35.8%, “Goods transport vehicles” (-12.5% with 168.9 million in exports) and “Seamless tubes and hollow profiles made of iron or steel” (31.8 million and -56.9%).

On the other hand, “New rubber tyres” (62.1 million) saw an upturn of 10.3%.

BIZKAIA. Exports during March 2024

Exports from the province of Bizkaia dropped by 22.3% as a result of downturns in major products such as “New rubber tyres” (-73.5% with 61.9 million less), “Stainless steel bars and sections” (-50.3%), “Unfilleted frozen fish” (-37.2%), “Bars and profiles of other steel alloys and hollow bars for drilling” (-32.0%) and “Vehicle parts and accessories” (-20.2%). The aforementioned products were responsible for 41.8% of this negative result in Bizkaia.

It is worth highlighting that, following a period of decline, “Refined petroleum oils” grew by 25.0%, reaching 164.8 million.

GIPUZKOA. Exports during March 2024

Exports from Gipuzkoa were down 24.9% this month, despite the notable increases seen in customs duty groups such as “Diesel and electric motor units for railway tracks and motorised trams” (37.6% with 42.4 million euros in exports) and “Vehicles for transporting 10 or more people, including the driver” (63.5% and 20.7 million), which failed to compensate for the decreases in other groups such as “Iron or non-alloy steel sections” (-55.2%) and “Vehicle parts and accessories” (-11.2%).

Destination countries March 2024

This month, five countries (France, Germany, the United States, Italy and the United Kingdom) were the Basque Country’s biggest customers, absorbing 51.5% (1,303 million) of the total exported. Three of these countries are part of the EU27, which accounted for 65.6%.

With a total of 460.5 million euros, France held first place this month in the ranking of countries by export destination. Standing out among the 700 types of products received were “Refined petroleum oils” (100.3 million), “Vehicle parts and accessories” (32.4 million), “New rubber tyres” (21.0 million), “Goods transport vehicles” (17.9 million) and “Passenger cars with fewer than 10 seats” (11.4 million).

Exports to Germany this month rose to 374.7 million euros, and were primarily concentrated in customs duty groups related to the vehicle sector (50.2% of the total): “Passenger cars with fewer than 10 seats” (84.5 million), “Goods transport vehicles” (51.2 million), “Vehicle parts and accessories” (37.5 million) and “New rubber tyres” (14.8 million), for a total of 418 different products.

Exports to the United States amounted to 160.2 million euros. Its top purchases were “Biodiesel and mixtures thereof” (12.8 million), “Seamless tubes and hollow profiles made of iron or steel” (12.2 million) and “Turbo-reactors, turbo-propellers and other gas turbines, and their parts and components” (10.5 million), totalling 334 different products.

This month, Italy accounted for 6.3% (159.5 million euros) of total exports from the Basque Country, and the majority of its transactions were also in the vehicle sector: “Goods transport vehicles” (12.6 million), “New rubber tyres” (9.2 million), “Passenger cars with fewer than 10 seats” (8.1 million), “Vehicle parts and accessories” (4.9 million) and “Vehicles for transporting 10 or more people” (4.7 million).

The United Kingdom came in fifth place this month with 148.0 million euros, of which 13.8 million corresponded to “Turbo-reactors, turbo-propellers and other gas turbines, and their parts and components”, 12.3 million to “Iron or non-alloy steel sections” and 5.5 million to “Constructions made from iron or steel sheets, bars, sections, tubes and similar”. Besides these three products, most of the top products were concentrated in the vehicle sector, which exceeded 37 million euros, accounting for a quarter of the total exported to this country.

FIRST QUARTER OF 2024: the foreign trade balance generated a surplus of 1,021.7 million euros and the coverage rate stood at 115.7%

For the first three months of 2024 as a whole, and for exports from the Basque Country, a year-on-year decrease of 15.9% was registered, which represented 1,427.3 million euros less than in the same period of the previous year. The total amount of exports for this period stood at 7,529 million euros; the greatest contribution to the export effort came from Bizkaia, with 2,871 million (38% of the total), followed by Gipuzkoa (2,358 million) and Álava (2,300 million).

Exports from Álava saw the greatest year-on-year decrease (-19.6%), 559 million less than in 2023. In Gipuzkoa, exports fell by 12.3% (331.8 million less) and they were down 15.7% in Bizkaia (536.5 million less).

Considering the type of product exported, we can see that there was a slight increase in exports of “Energy products” (0.3%), with 1.3 million more than in the same quarter of the previous year. In contrast, “Non-energy products” registered a drop of 16.9%.

The ten most exported products (export duty groups) accounted for 39.8% of exports, reaching a total of 2,994.5 million. “Passenger cars with fewer than 10 seats” was the group with the highest volume of exports from the Basque Country in this period, with 614.0 million in exports and a year-on-year variation rate of -27.8%.



Among the products that stood out most for their export effort, the aforementioned group was not the only one to experience a downward trend; “Goods transport vehicles” (-27.6%), “New rubber tyres” (-21.3%), “Refined petroleum oils” (-9.4%), “Seamless tubes and hollow profiles made of iron or steel” (-38.6%) and “Iron or non-alloy steel sections” (-29.3%) were in the same situation, not to mention “Stainless steel bars and sections” (-43.0%).

In the 25 main customs duty groups, the most notable increases were recorded in products such as “Petroleum oils or oils obtained from bituminous minerals” (1,836.2%), “Turbo-reactors, turbo-propellers and other gas turbines, and their parts and components” (38.6%), “Vehicles for transporting 10 or more people, including the driver” (45.9%) and “Vehicle parts and accessories” (4.3%).

The ranking of countries which Basque Country exports were sent to was topped by France (1,330 million), followed closely by Germany (1,122 million) and at a greater distance by the United Kingdom (507 million), the United States (497 million) and Italy (468 million). Between them, these five countries accounted for 52% of Basque exports.

Cumulative imports for the Basque Country as a whole amounted to 6,508 million euros. In year-on-year terms, this figure is 620 million euros less than that registered for the same period in 2023. This decrease (8.7%) was largely due to the fact that the province of Bizkaia (with imports of 3,867.3 million) registered a downturn of 6.9%, i.e. 285.9 million less than in the same period of the previous year. Imports also decreased in Álava, down 13.2% with 211.5 million euros less, and in Gipuzkoa, where there was a drop of 8.9% and a year-on-year decline of 123 million euros; the value of imports in these two provinces stood at 1,388.3 and 1,251.7 million euros respectively.

Imports of “Energy products” were 6% higher than in the same period of the previous year and those of “Non-energy products” were down 13.3%.

Foreign trade of goods in the Basque Country during the first three months of 2024 had a positive balance of 1,021.7 million euros, maintaining a positive coverage rate of 115.7%.

Note

Foreign trade data explorer

Eustat comunica que ofrece una nueva herramienta de visualización, que permite acceder a toda la información sobre el comercio  internacional de bienes de la C.A. de Euskadi de una forma visual e intuitiva, complementaria a la ofrecida hasta ahora.

Recordamos, igualmente, que puede utilizar Elkano para realizar consultas detalladas y actualizadas de datos sobre comercio exterior.

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