Spanish exports hit all-time high in 2016

Vehicles accounted for 17% of Spain’s exports in 2016.

Exports from Spain totalled €254.53 billion euros last year, marking a 1.7% increase on 2015 to make 2016 the best year ever for Spanish exports.

The country was the best-performing member of both the Eurozone and the EU in terms of exports last year, and this impressive performance helped Spain to bring its trade deficit down 22.4% to €18.75 billion, which is the second-best balance the nation has enjoyed since 1997…

Imports fell 0.4% to €273.28 billion euros, which suggests that Spain has begun altering its economy to a more export-based model, which is similar to Germany – a country long-heralded for knowing what it’s doing on the business front.

The balance of exports over imports rose to 93.1% for Spain in 2016, starkly highlighting this shifting trend, and a healthy reminder that Spanish goods – from cars to wine – are in high demand around the globe.

In posting a 1.7% year-on-year increase in exports, Spain outperformed the EU average – where exports rose 0.7% – and even beat Germany, which could only muster a 1.2% increase in exports.

France, the UK, the USA, China and Japan all saw their exports decline in 2016.

The most commonly exported goods from Spain include ships, pharmaceuticals, olives and olive oil, as well as electronic devices. Spain is the world’s third-largest exporter of wine, fruit and vegetables, and 70% of all exports remain within the European Union.

Spain’s most popular imports, meanwhile, are machinery and equipment, fuels, chemicals, foodstuffs and medical instruments.