Agri-food and fisheries exports reached a historical record of 53,848 million euros in 2020, which represents an increase of 4.1% compared to the previous 2019, despite the difficult international commercial scenario, marked by the health crisis.
The data, corresponding to These results are collected in the Annual Preview of Foreign Trade prepared by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food based on data from the Customs Department, confirm the strength and strategic nature for the Spanish economy of the agri-food and fishing sector, in a difficult scenario marked by the uncertainties of the pandemic of the Covid-19 and with a declining international trade in which, in fact, the exports of the Spanish economy as a whole fell by 10.2% last year.
It should be noted that the balance of the Annual Preview of Foreign Trade corresponding to 2020 does not include forest products, which were included in previous reports of the historical series and which now depend on the Ministry of Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge.
In terms of imports, in the Spanish economy as a whole they fell by 14.7% compared to 2019. This decrease was less in the agri-food and fishing sector, 4.6%, and reached a global figure of 35,155 millions of euros.
Consequently, the trade balance of the Spanish agri-food and fishing sector – the difference between exports and imports – increased in the year as a whole by 25.8%, and amounted to 18,693 million euros, a figure that also represents a record in the historical series of these indicators. On the contrary, the general trade balance of the Spanish economy fell in 2020 by 57.4%. Thus, the agri-food and fishing sector consolidated the important role it plays in Spanish foreign trade, and now accounts for more than a fifth (20.6%) of the total exports of the national economy, while imports represent 12 , 8%.
Food exports by sector
By sectors, the main contribution corresponded to the group of fruits, with an exported value of 9,570 million euros, followed by the meat, which sold for 8,476 million euros and was the subsector with the highest growth, 17.8%, driven by demand for pork from China, and the third most exporting group were the vegetables, with 6,890 million euros.
The group of drinks —Among which the came– Yes, it was more affected by the pandemic, especially due to the closures and limitations of hours of the hotel industry, so that exports were reduced by 3.5%, with a total value sold of 4,348 million euros. Exports of olive oil, 1.5%, with a turnover of 4,182 million euros.
And finally, by markets, the European Union (EU) remains the preferred destination for Spanish food and beverage exports, concentrating 63% (33,760 million euros in value terms), with an increase in the exported value of 1 , 7%. The share that the EU represented until last year was even higher, 72% in 2019, before the UK left. Although the data refers to the year 2020, when the report was made in 2021, the United Kingdom already appears as a third country.
The value of exports to third countries increased last year by 8.5% (20,088 million euros globally) due to the significant boost in sales to China, which increased by 67.3%.