Exports from Andalusia reached the historical record figure of 3,206 million in January 2023, which represents a growth of 6.2% compared to the same month of the previous year, and makes it the best January in history since comparable data has been available (1995). In this month, increases have been recorded in six of the eight Andalusian provinces, the highest in Malaga, Huelva, and Cadiz, and the top five markets, with the United States, Japan, and India as the countries that have grown the most out of the top 30.
This year-on-year growth in January is particularly significant if we take into account that it is compared to the result for January 2022, which showed an increase of 36% over the same month in 2021. In this way, the Andalusian foreign sector begins 2023 with the same growth dynamic with which it closed 2022, which ended with a historic record of exports, worth 42,958 million and an increase of 24.3%.
Imports by Andalusia also increased in the first month of the year to 3,671 million, 18.2% more than in January 2021, placing the Andalusian coverage rate at 87%.
In the first month of 2023, growth has been recorded in six of Andalusia’s top 10 export chapters, with the largest increases in industry-related sectors. The strongest increase corresponds to the chapter on miscellaneous products of chemical industries, fourth in sales, with 209 million euros (6.5% of the total) and an increase of 68%. It is followed by mineral fuels and oils, first in value, with 538 million (16.8%) and an increase of 44%.
Copper and copper products also grew by 35% to 169 million euros (5.3%); and machinery, apparatus, and electrical equipment reached 126 million euros (3.9%), with an increase of 21.6%.
At the same time, among agri-food products, the biggest boost came from olive oil, which recorded a year-on-year growth of 10.6% to 216 million euros, thanks to good market prices and the rise in exports to its main world destinations. It is Andalusia’s most exported product and forms part of the chapter on animal and vegetable fats and oils, which as a whole, grew by 5.6% in January to 259 million (8.1%), being the third chapter in sales.
Likewise, fruit exports, from fifth place, grew by 17.8% to 196 million euros (6.1%), and only exports of vegetables recorded a slight drop of 0.4%, but remained the second chapter in sales (16.2% of the total) with only 0.4% less, to record 18 million in exports.
Within the top 10 chapters, there was also a small drop of 1.7% in plastics and their manufacturers, with a turnover of 63 million abroad (2% of the total); minerals, slag, and ashes, with 96 million exported (3%) and a drop of 34%; and iron and steel, with 84 million (2.6%) and a drop of 34%.
