Trade deficit improves by 24% in first two months of 2026

In the first two months of the year (January and February 2026), the trade deficit fell by 24% compared to the same period of the previous year, to almost €7.31 billion. This improvement is due to the nearly 34% drop in the energy deficit to just short of €4.12 billion, as shown by the trade data declared by Customs and collected in the Monthly Foreign Trade Report of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Business, compiled by the Secretary of State for Trade.

Spanish exports of goods reached almost €60.65 billion up to February 2026, confirming the strength and resilience of the foreign trade sector in a complex international setting.

The best performing sectors were:

• Capital goods, which exported over €12.12 billion in January and February, an increase of 5.3% over the previous year, driven by transport and electrical appliances.
• Raw materials: over €1.8 billion were exported (13% more than in the first two months of the previous year), due to the strong dynamism of minerals.

Meanwhile, imports registered €67.95 billion, with a decline of 4.8% year-on-year, due in particular to energy products, whose imports fell by 26% in the first two months of the year. The coverage rate stood at 89.2%, an increase of 2.7 percentage points.

In the last twelve months, Spanish exports have grown by 0.5%, reaching over €385.98 billion.

The trade surplus with the EU was maintained at over €4.02 billion in the period. The countries against which the Spanish economy recorded the largest surpluses were Portugal (almost €2.89 billion), France (almost €2.82 billion), and the UK (almost €2.47 billion).

The number of regular exporters (those who have exported more than €1,000 in the reference year and in each of the three immediately preceding years) stood at 36,117 exporters, who exported €58.64 billion in foreign sales. Their weight, which represents more than 99% of total exports, reflects the continuity of the companies that sustain Spanish export activity.

Foreign trade data in February 2026

Spanish merchandise exports reached €31.72 billion in February 2026, with a monthly increase of 9.7%, which represents a growth of over €2.79 billion compared to January 2026.

This figure is in line with the average of the last three years, with a slight year-on-year decrease of 0.8%, reflecting a stable development of foreign trade.

Imports, on the other hand, amounted to almost €35.02 billion in February 2026. This represents a growth of 6.3% compared to January of this year, and a decrease of 1.1% year-on-year.

In the international context, Spanish merchandise exports (-0.8%) in the month of February showed a smaller contraction than the Eurozone (-3.4%) and the EU-27 (-2.7%). Among the main economies of the EU, the growth of exports from France (3.8%) and Germany (1.7%) stood out, in contrast to Italy (-0.2%). Outside the EU, exports from the US (16.4%), China (36.1%) and Japan (4.0%) increased, and those from the UK (-21.5%) decreased.

On a monthly basis, the trade deficit narrowed by 3.8% year-on-year in February to just short of €3.3 billion, as the energy deficit, which accounted for more than 72.2% of the total deficit, fell by 15.2%, with energy imports falling by 17.8% year-on-year.

Furthermore, the coverage ratio (the percentage of exports to imports) stood at 90.6%.

By sector, the most notable surpluses were in food, beverages and tobacco (almost €1.95 billion), non-chemical semi-manufactures (€762 billion), and other goods (€424 billion).

Main sectors and target markets in February 2026

In February, the sectors with the highest positive contributions to the annual rate of change of exports (-0.8%) were: capital goods (1.3 points), other merchandise (0.4 points), raw materials (0.3 points), non-chemical semi-manufactures (0.1 points), and food, beverages and tobacco (0.1 points).

By destination market, exports to the EU-27 accounted for 62.2% of the total and were 1.3% higher than in the same month of the previous year. Record figures for the month were achieved in eight EU destinations, including Italy, Poland, Portugal and the Czech Republic.

Exports to non-EU destinations accounted for 37.8% of the total. Record highs for the month were achieved in markets of significance to Spain such as the UK, Canada, Indonesia and Ukraine.

Non official translation