Press release 17/03/2024

FOREIGN TRADE STATISTICS (ECOMEX). January 2025

Exports of goods from the Basque Country were down 4.7% in January 2025

Imports were down 3.4%, registering a positive trade balance of 80.7 million euros

In January 2025, exports of goods from the Basque Country recorded a decrease of 4.7% in year-on-year terms, according to EUSTAT data. They totalled 2,264 million euros compared to 2,376 million in the same month of the previous year. Exports of Energy products fell by 75.2% and those of Non-energy products were down 1.0%.

Bizkaia was the province that registered the greatest drop (-13.1%), due to the decrease in exports of both Non-energy products (-3.6%) and, above all, Energy products, which reached -76.3%. In Gipuzkoa, exports as a whole were up 2.5%, and in Álava they fell by 1.5%.

Imports of goods to the Basque Country saw a 3.4% decrease, reaching a total of 2,183 million euros. Energy imports fell by 28.7%, and non-energy imports rose by 8.7%. By provinces, imports increased by 33.6% in Álava and 13.6% in in Gipuzkoa, while in Bizkaia they decreased by 17.7%

The four main export groups, with 623 million traded, belonged to the vehicle sector and accounted for 27.5% of the total, and as a whole they decreased by 11.2% compared to January 2024

A more detailed analysis reveals that the ranking of 969 export groups was led by four groups: “Passenger cars with fewer than 10 seats” with 248.8 million traded and a drop of 6.5% compared to the same month of the previous year; “Vehicle parts and accessories”, (178.0 million but a drop of 6.8%); “Goods transport vehicles”, 108.2 million but down 24.7%; and "New rubber tyres” (88.0 million and a decrease of 30.9%). “Seamless tubes and hollow profiles made of iron or steel” occupied the fifth position, with 51.5 million and an increase of 13.6%. In January, these five groups made up 29.8% of the total traded, with an overall value of 674.5 million euros; of those, 623 million were destined for the vehicle sector (Chapters 87 and 40) since 74% of “rubber and its manufacturers” corresponds to “New Rubber Tyres”. Overall, Chapter 87, “vehicles other than rolling stock”, despite having 580 million worth of exports, decreased by 7.0% compared with January 2024.

Among the groups that occupied the top 25 positions, the year-on-year increases of “Goods not specifically covered by the customs tariff” (323.1%), “Soybean oil” (165.8%) and “Electric motors and generators (except generator sets)” (113.5%) stand out. It is also worth indicating, but in the opposite direction, the sharp decline in “Refined petroleum oils”, which dropped from 106 million in January 2024 to 14 million in the same month of this year, which represents a decrease of 86.6%, falling to 49th position in the exports ranking, when it had previously always been in the top 25.

In January, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy and the United States were the Basque Country’s biggest customers, absorbing 50.5% of total exports. Three of these five countries belong to the EU27, which accounted for 64% of our sales abroad.

In Álava, the main customs duty group, “Passenger cars with fewer than 10 seats”, recorded exports worth 232.9 million euros and saw exports in January increase by 7.0% compared to the previous year, whereas the group immediately after, “Goods transport vehicles”, registered a decline of 25.2%. Exports of “Seamless tubes and hollow profiles made of iron or steel” also increased, in this case by 21.2% (47 million), as well as “Vehicles other than railway or tramway rolling-stock” (7.2 million).

In Bizkaia, among the top ten groups, the decrease in exports of “New rubber tyres” is noteworthy (25.7 million exported, 38.4 million less than the previous year, which represents a reduction of 59.9%), as well as “Vehicle parts and accessories”, 64.7 million exported and a drop of 16.8%.

In Gipuzkoa, the increases in “Electric motors and generators (except generator sets)” were significant (152.2% and 19 million exported), as well as those for “Railway or tramway passenger coaches; luggage vans, post office coaches and others”, with 15.6 million exported. On the other hand, sales of “Vehicle parts and accessories” decreased (4.2 million euros less than in January 2024), as did those of “Padlocks and locks of base metal”, with 3.4 million less and -15.2%.

In January 2025, imports of “Refined petroleum oils” grew by 21.9%, while “Crude oils” fell by 44.4%

An analysis of imports by customs duty group reveals that the most significant group, “Petroleum oils or oils obtained from bituminous minerals”, representing 11.6% of the total, registered a decrease of 44.4%. “Petroleum gas and other gaseous hydrocarbons” also fell significantly, dropping from 89 to 48 million. On the other hand, significant growth was seen in imports of “Passenger cars with fewer than 10 seats”, which grew from 2 to 30 million, “Piston engines (diesel or semi-diesel)” (642.6%, from 8 to 59 million), “Flat-rolled products of iron or non-alloy steel but plated or coated, > 599 mm” (73.5%, from 28 to 48 million) and “Refined petroleum oils”, (21.9%, from 178 to 217 million).

This month, imports primarily came from, in order: Germany 317.5 million, France (182.3 million), China (150.6 million), Netherlands (122.4 million) and the United States (100.8 million).

EXPORTS TO THE UNITED STATES

In 2024, US exports accounted for 6.4% of the total with 1,992 million euros; in 2023, they represented 8.4% with a cumulative total of 2,738 million

During 2024, our exports to the United States were spread out among 672 different products, with wide differences in the total sum of each of them. Below, we will indicate the ten main ones, based on the total value of exports:

“Seamless tubes and hollow profiles made of iron or steel”. 144.1 million (3rd place in 2023 with 277.7 million), 86% of which were from Álava, it being the main export from that province to the United States, given that it represents 33% of the total, ahead of “Wine of fresh grapes” (8.3% with 31.1 million exported).

“Turbo-reactors, turbo-propellers and other gas turbines, and their parts and components”. 131.0 million (5th position in 2023 with 106.1 million), all from Bizkaia (100%).

“Refined petroleum oils”. 112.3 million (1st position in 2023 with 489.9 million), exclusively from Bizkaia (100%).

“Biodiesel and mixtures thereof, not containing or containing < 70% by weight of petroleum oils or oils obtained from bituminous minerals” 84.5 million (4th position in 2023 with 191.1 million), all from Bizkaia (100%).

“Electrical transformers, static converters and chokes”. 72.8 million (8th position in 2023 with 62.0 million) from Bizkaia (95%).

“Electric motors and generators (except generator sets).” 70.4 million (9th position in 2023 with 43.0 million) from Gipuzkoa (95%).

“Firearms for hunting; blank-firing pistols, signal pistols, and line throwers”. 59.6 million (6th position in 2023 with 69.3 million) from Gipuzkoa (76.5%).

“Machining centres for working metal”. 52.2 million (74th position in 2023 with 4.5 million) from Bizkaia (58%), Gipuzkoa (35%) and Álava (7%).

“Parts and accessories for machine tools”. 49.8 million (17th position in 2023 with 27.9 million) from Gipuzkoa (77%), Bizkaia (15%) and Álava (8%).

“Oils and other products of the distillation of high temperature coal tar (Benzol, Toluol, Xylol, Naphtha, Phenols, etc.)”. 43.6 million (there were no exports of this product in 2023 that originated exclusively (100%) from Bizkaia.

Apart from the products already cited, which are the most important, there is a series of products (customs duty groups) or items (tariff items) that may particularly suffer from the changes to customs duties made by the United States, such as, for example:

“Wine of fresh grapes”, 36.4 million exported.

“Prepared or preserved fish”, 5.7 million.

“Chocolate and other food preparations containing cocoa”, 1.2 million.

“Bread, cake, biscuit, cone and wafer products” 1.0 million.

“Crustaceans” 0.7 million.

“Vermouth and other wine of fresh grapes, flavoured with plants or aromatic substances”, 0.3 million.

“Casks, barrels, vats, tubs and other coopers' products parts thereof, of wood, incl. staves”, 0.2 million.

“Cider, perry, mead and other fermented beverages”, 0.2 million.

Special mention should be made of the "Vehicles" sector, where the United States ranks twenty-second in the export ranking for this type of product, with 61.1 million exported, as well as the "Railway vehicles and similar materials" sector, where the United States ranks thirteenth with €14.0 million exported.

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