Exports from Andalusia once again recorded outstanding growth in April, 40.4% compared to the same month in 2020, reaching 3,066 million, making it the second-best April in history since comparable data has been available (1995). A strong rise that exceeds by nine points the 31% drop in sales in April 2020, the first full month of the pandemic in Spain.
With this, the Andalusian foreign sector is making significant progress in its reactivation, achieving year-on-year growth of 9.6% in the first four months of 2021, to place Andalusia as the second exporting community in Spain, with 11,025 million euros and a surplus of 2,081 million euros, which is a record in the sequence since 1995.
In this way, the Andalusian foreign sector not only confirms its recovery, with a historic contribution to the Andalusian economy in the first four months of the year but also boosts its progression, with a growth figure that almost doubles that recorded in the previous month, March (22%), encouraged by the normalisation of activity and the recovery of the foreign market.
Industrial and energy sectors led sales growth in April, rising by double and triple digits due to the marked expansion of industrial activity and the increase in market prices. These are reinforced by the good tone of the agri-food sector, which continues to rise thanks to the rise in fruit and the sustained upturn in olive oil, consolidating Andalusia’s leadership in the export of food and beverages.
In April 2021, Andalusian exports to almost all the world’s geographical areas grew, rising significantly in its top ten markets, both in Europe and in America, Asia, and Africa, with double-digit increases or more.
The two markets that grew the most this month are non-European, which increases the diversification of sales. The one that rose the most was Morocco, which ranked ninth and third non-European destination, doubling its figure (+135%) to 101 million, 3.3% of the total, due to the growth of fuels, which doubled its figure to 38 million (+138%) and copper and its manufactures, which multiplied by nine, to 19.6 million (+850%).
It is followed by the United States, the leading non-European market and sixth in the world, with 81% more sales, up to 165 million, 5.4% of the total. Sales to China also grew notably, by 34% to 157 million, which places the Asian market as Andalusia’s second non-European destination and seventh in the world, with 5.1% of the total.
Similarly, the Andalusian foreign sector is making progress in Europe, with significant growth in sales to markets such as Portugal, which rises to fifth place with an increase of 61% to 194 million (6.3%); the United Kingdom, in fourth place, with a rise of 41% to 217 million (7.1%); Germany, the second market, where sales increased by 26.3% to 342 million (11.2%); Italy, third, with an increase of 24.5% to 270 million (8.8%); France, the world’s leading destination, with an increase of 23.4% to 452 million (14.7%); the Netherlands, in the eighth position with 144 million (4.7%) and an increase of 21.4%; and, in tenth place, Belgium, up 0.6% to 66 million (2.2%).
