The Canary Islands led the year-on-year increase in exports in the period between January and May with an 89% increase, and an amount of 1,244.9 million euros, followed by the Balearic Islands (51.8%) and Madrid (49%), according to data released this Monday by the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism.
Specifically, and according to the sectoral analysis corresponding to the Canary Islands sent to EFE by the Institute of Foreign Trade (Icex), the main positive contributions of Canary Islands exports from January to May 2022 came from the energy products sector, capital goods, food, beverages and tobacco and non-chemical semi-manufactures.
The increase in exports from the Canary Islands is 110 points higher than that recorded in January-May 2021, according to provisional data from the Ministry.
Sales increase, but fall in Turkey, Latin America and Asia
Canary Islands exports to EU countries in January-May 2022 (44.4% of the total) increased by 95.5% compared to the same period of the previous year. In the case of sales to the euro zone (10.7% of the total) they rose by 20.5%, while those destined for the rest of the European Union (33.7% of the total) increased by 143.3%. By country, the accumulated increase until May of sales to Portugal (119.8%) and France (10.5%) stands out. On the contrary, sales to Turkey fell by 25.5%.
Canary Islands exports to third destinations increased by 84.3% year-on-year in this period, and account for 55.6% of the total, highlighting the growth in sales to North America (113.4%), the Middle East (91%), Africa (81.1%) and Oceania (32.7%), compared to the decreases in Latin America (-12.6%) and Asia excluding the Middle East (-3.4%). In turn, imports, for an amount of 1,536.6 million euros, increased by 51.7% year-on-year, with 53.8 points more than the same period last year.
In this way, the trade balance registered a deficit of 291.7 million euros, although this figure in January-May 2021 was 354.4 million.
Likewise, and with regard to the month of May in particular, the communities with the largest year-on-year increase in exports were the Balearic Islands, with 146.7%; the Canary Islands, with 67.8%; and the Basque Country, with 50.5%. Icex underlines that in May Canary Islands merchandise exports increased by 67.8% year-on-year to reach 203.6 million euros and, compared to the month of April, decreased by 16.2%.
This implies that the trade balance of the archipelago registered a deficit of 95.0 million euros in May 2022 (deficit of 135.8 million euros in the same month of the previous year, according to provisional data).
Regarding Canary Islands imports, the main positive contributions came from the food, beverage and tobacco sectors, consumer manufactures, non-chemical semi-manufactures and durable consumer goods.
