Spain shipped US$287.8 billion worth of goods around the globe in 2016, up by 29% since 2009 when the Great Recession kicked in and up by 3.5% from 2015 to 2016.

Spain’s top 10 exports accounted for 55.9% of the overall value of its global shipments.

Based on statistics from the International Monetary Fund’s World Economic Outlook Database, Spain’s total Gross Domestic Product amounted to $1.690 trillion in 2016. Therefore, exports accounted for about 17% of total Spanish economic output.

From a continental perspective, well over two-thirds (69.9%) of Spanish exports by value are delivered to other European countries while 11.2% are sold to Asian importers. Spain ships another 6.5% worth of goods to North American clients with 6.2% going to Africa.

Given Spain’s population of 48.6 million people, its total $287.8 billion in 2016 exports translates to roughly $5,900 for every resident in that country.

Spain’s unemployment rate was 18.6% as of January 2017 down from 20.9% in December 2015, according to Trading Economics.
Spain’s Top 10 Exports

The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Spanish global shipments during 2016. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Spain.

1. Vehicles: US$55.3 billion (19.2% of total exports)
2. Machinery including computers: $22.2 billion (7.7%)
3. Electrical machinery, equipment: $16.1 billion (5.6%)
4. Mineral fuels including oil: $14.7 billion (5.1%)
5. Plastics, plastic articles: $11.1 billion (3.8%)
6. Pharmaceuticals: $11 billion (3.8%)
7. Fruits, nuts: $9.3 billion (3.2%)
8. Clothing, accessories (not knit or crochet): $7.6 billion (2.6%)
9. Articles of iron or steel: $6.8 billion (2.4%)
10. Vegetables: $6.7 billion (2.3%)

Non-knit and uncrocheted clothing were the fastest-growing among the top 10 export categories, up 103% for the 7-year period starting in 2009.

In second place for improving export sales were mineral fuels including oil which gained 44.9%. Exported plastics posted a 40% uptick.

The category posting the most modest gain was pharmaceuticals, up 7.1%.

The following types of Spanish product shipments represent positive net exports or a trade balance surplus. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports.

In a nutshell, net exports is the amount by which foreign spending on a home country’s goods or services exceeds or lags the home country’s spending on foreign goods or services.

1. Vehicles: US$12.7 billion (Up by 16.7% since 2009)
2. Fruits, nuts: $6.4 billion (Up by 29.5%)
3. Vegetables: $5.4 billion (Up by 21.7%)
4. Meat: $4.5 billion (Up by 92.2%)
5. Ceramic products: $2.9 billion (Up by 33.6%)
6. Articles of iron or steel: $2.6 billion (Up by 208.1%)
7. Beverages, spirits, vinegar: $2.3 billion (Up by 48.6%)
8. Animal/vegetable fats, oils, waxes: $2.2 billion (Up by 59%)
9. Vegetable/fruit/nut preparations: $1.8 billion (Up by 16.8%)
10. Copper: $1.3 billion (Up by 86.8%)

Spain has highly positive net exports particularly for cars and also trucks. In turn, these cashflows indicate Spain’s strong competitive advantages under the vehicles product category.

Spanish Export Companies
Twenty-seven corporations rank among Forbes Global 2000 for 2015. Below is a sample of the major Spanish companies that Forbes included:

• Telefónica (telecommunications services)
• Repsol YPF (oil, gas)
• Ferrovial (other transportation)
• Abertis (other transportation)
• Grifols (biotech products)

According to global trade intelligence firm Zepol, the following smaller companies are also examples of Spanish export companies:

• Nemak Spain (internal combustion engines, vehicle parts and accessories)
• Repsol (oil)
• Telefónica (telecommunications equipment)
• Mahou Sa (malt beer, wine, vodka)