Catalonia breaks its export record in 2025 despite the trade war

BarcelonaCatalan exports closed 2025 with a record high of €100.779 billion, 0.6% more than the previous year, according to data published this Thursday by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Business. Despite the uncertainty surrounding Donald Trump's tariffs and the ensuing trade war, sales abroad have exceeded €100 billion for the third consecutive year. As for purchases, imports totaled €114.3598 billion, a 3.3% increase. Therefore, Catalonia's trade balance last year was -€13.5812 billion. Despite the new international landscape marked by increased protectionism, this is the third consecutive year that Catalan exports have surpassed €100 billion. According to calculations by Accion – the Catalan government's competitiveness agency – exports to the United States have fallen by 3.4% in 2025, while the diversification of Catalan companies in countries such as South Korea (+25.2%), China (+13.7%), and India (+4.4%) stands out. Accion has highlighted that the growth in exports in 2025 is due to the reorientation of exports to Asia (+7.6%), Africa (+12.5%), and the Middle East (+15.3%). Conversely, declines were recorded in Latin America (-14%) and North America (-2.2%), while exports remained stable in the European Union (+0.8%). According to the Minister of Business and Labor, Miquel Sàmper, these results demonstrate "the resilience and diversification capacity of Catalan companies in an adverse, uncertain, and complex global environment." "The fact that Catalonia has once again surpassed €100 billion in exports in this context demonstrates the international strength of our business sector and highlights its ability to continue opening doors when others close," he stated. The Minister of Business and Labor also emphasized "the Government's efforts to support Catalan businesses in this new environment through the 'We Respond' Plan and the Action instruments." In this regard, he announced that the network of 40 Action Foreign Trade and Investment Offices worldwide has worked on nearly 3,000 internationalization projects for Catalan companies, 17% more than in 2024. He also noted that the Government has designed a new strategy for 2026-2030. Developed through an unprecedented participatory process involving over 110 companies and organizations, the plan aims to attract 2,000 new exporting companies, reach 19,000 regular exporters (those exporting for four consecutive years), and increase the number of Catalan companies with subsidiaries to 3,500. By sector, semi-manufactured goods exports continue to dominate, accounting for more than a third of last year's sales. The chemical sector stands out, with €29.73 billion in foreign sales, representing 29.5% of all Catalan exports, but a 2.8% decrease compared to the previous year. The second largest export sector was capital goods, with almost €16.73 billion, representing 16.6% of the total and a 9.7% increase compared to 2014. The food, beverage, and tobacco sector rounded out the top three, with exports totaling almost €16.203 billion the previous year.

Larger trade deficit

The greater increase in imports compared to exports has deepened Catalonia's trade deficit. In 2024, it closed with a negative balance of €10.619 billion, while in 2025 it rose to €13.526 billion. Catalonia remains the leading exporting region in Spain, accounting for 26% of all sales abroad, but it is also the region that buys the most from abroad, representing 25.7% of all imports in Spain. Despite Catalonia's trade deficit of over €13 billion, the balance between imports and exports is much larger in Madrid, where it amounts to €54.318 billion (€46.820 billion in 2024). This significant imbalance in the region presided over by Isabel Díaz Ayuso is due to the fact that imports are double its exports. Madrid's exports in 2025 totaled €53.253 billion (13.8% of total Spanish exports), but its imports reached €107.571 billion, representing 24.2% of all foreign purchases. For Spain as a whole, the trade deficit increased by 41.6% in 2025, reaching €57.054 billion, due to a rebound in imports compared to the previous year amid stronger domestic demand. According to trade balance data published this Thursday by the Ministry of Economy, exports of goods amounted to €387.092 billion, 0.7% higher than in 2024 (the second-best annual figure in the historical series), while imports totaled €444.146 billion, a 4.6% increase.

Imports of medicines and automobiles increase

The rebound in imports is explained by increased purchases of products such as medicines (from Italy, the United States, Ireland, and China), cars and motorcycles (from Germany, China, Turkey, and the United Kingdom), and electrical appliances (from China, Germany, the Netherlands, and Morocco). Sector-specific data show a sharp increase in imports of other goods (26.3%), capital goods (9.5%), consumer manufactures (7.6%), and durable consumer goods (7.5%), which could not be offset by the decrease in purchases of energy products (8.5%).