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Malaga province has recorded overseas sales worth 2.78 billion euros between January and October, which represents an increase of 1.5% compared to the figures of just a year ago, a year in which exports set record levels for the fifth consecutive year, standing at over 3.22 billion euros. For 2024 all the signs are that this record will also be beaten.
Malaga has shown great consistency in the growth of its export trade in recent years with year-on-year increases. However, in this last financial year its growth has been lower than in Andalucía as a whole, with region-wide exports having increased by 5.8% year-on-year to nearly 33.58 billion euros. Yet in 2023 Andalucía exported goods and services worth over 41.29 billion euros, a figure that was also below that of 2022 when it came close to 47.25 billions. Regarding the data for 2024, a statement from the regional government highlights that Andalucía is in third place in Spain for exports and is the only one that is growing in the top five exporting regions, the other four being Catalonia, Madrid, Valencia and the Basque Country.
Within the context of Andalucía, Malaga is also among the provinces where exports have grown the least so far this year, along with Huelva, where they only increased by 1.2% between January and October compared to the same time last year. However, there are two other provinces within this region that have performed worse: Cadiz, which has suffered a 9.5% drop (although it is the third largest exporter after Seville and Huelva, with more than six billion euros in the first ten months of the year in exports), and Almeria, which has recorded a 1% drop to 4.49 billion euros.
In the regional ranking for export sales in Andalucía Malaga is fifth this year behind Seville (8.29 billion euros), Huelva (6.35 billion), Cadiz (6.31 billions) and Almeria (4.49 billions), and then ahead of Cordoba (2.70 billion euros), Granada (over 1.44 billion euros) and Jaen (1.20). Junta sources point out that Seville is the province that contributes most to the growth of exports in Andalucía and Spain. It is no coincidence that the increase in export business from this province is 28.4% year-on-year.
Nevertheless, Malaga has one point in its favour: it is performing better than the country as a whole. Domestic sales abroad have risen by just 0.7% year-on-year to over 322 billion euros. As is the case with Andalucía, the 424 billion euros in exports recorded in 2023 as a whole were also less than the almost 460 billion euros of a year earlier. Neither Andalucía nor Spain have been able in recent years to match the export growth records that Malaga has achieved annually these past five years.
The figures released this week by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Tourism in Madrid also reveal how the most important sectors have performed in terms of exports. For Malaga there is great disparity between winners and losers. The leading sector in exports is food, beverages and tobacco. It accounts for 49% of all overseas sales made from Malaga in the first ten months of this year, having increased at a year-on-year rate of 22.8% to nearly 1.45 billion euros. This is a phenomenon that Natalia Sánchez, executive vice-president and general secretary of the CEM confederation of employers of Malaga, attributes to the rise in the prices of agricultural goods. Fernando Cubillo, provincial secretary of the CCOO (Comisiones Obreras) trade union, adds another reason: the strong internationalisation of the large agro-industrial conglomerates in the province is also contributing to this strong growth and the leading role played by this sector in Malaga's foreign activity. In turn, Soledad Ruiz, provincial secretary of the UGT trade union, has expressed concern over the last few days about the impact that the agreement between the European Union and Mercosur could have. Despite the Spanish government's claims that it favours Spanish olive oil because tariffs are lowered, in Ruiz's opinion this trade pact could harm national producers if the same phytosanitary conditions (plant care requirements) are not demanded of those from outside the EU.
While this sector sits in top spot for exports in Malaga province and is making good news for the time being, the same is not true of capital goods in second place. Between January and October its sales amounted to 331.7 million euros, which represents a fall of 40.2% year-on-year. With such a disappointing performance this sector, which accounted for 20% of all exports from the province at this time last year, has now accounted for barely 12%. Meanwhile, the food sector has gone from 40% to 49% of all exports. Fernando Bustillo puts the capital goods sector in Malaga's exports in context: "It is confined to companies in [Malaga's] Technology Park and a few small industrial estates; it still represents a small proportion of Malaga's economy."
For Andalucía the most important sector in terms of export trade is also the food sector, with a volume this year up to October of over 13 billion euros, 16% more than at the same time last year, representing 38.7% of all exports from the region. The second most important sector is energy products, of which a total of 5.6 billion euros have been sold abroad, 1.8% more than a year ago, accounting for 16.7% of total regional exports. Capital goods accounted for almost 15% of regional sales to other countries, totalling just over 5 billion euros, which represents a year-on-year increase of 3.8%. Turning to more detail the Junta highlights the agricultural sector with sales of olive oil having grown by 46% to reach record highs, while in capital goods the aerospace sector stands out with a 53% increase in export sales.
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