Catalonia shoots up the trade deficit with China

BarcelonaCatalonia's trade deficit with China reached 12.37 billion euros last year, a result that doubles the negative trade balance recorded in 2015 and is 236% larger than that of 2005, according to data from the Spanish government. In recent years, the monthly trade deficit with China has in many cases exceeded 1 billion euros, levels that double the negative balances from before the pandemic. The sector where Chinese imports are growing the most is finished automobiles and motorcycles: during 2025 it reached 1.557 billion euros in imports, fourteen times more than the 96.7 million in 2019, and far exceeds the 6.41 million exported last year from Catalonia to Beijing in this area.

In August of this year, the last month with data, Catalonia's trade deficit with China was 1.0494 billion euros, according to figures updated this Tuesday by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Enterprise and collected by the ACN. Specifically, Catalonia sold 126.4 million euros to the Asian giant, while it imported 1.1757 billion. The deficit result is the second highest for an eighth month of the year in the historical series, only behind August 2022, when Catalonia's trade balance with China was a negative 1.1909 billion euros.

If the calculation between January and August is analyzed, Catalonia's trade deficit with China rises to 7.77224 billion euros, a figure that remains 89% above the 4.1117 billion for the same period in 2016 and 182% above the 2.75742 billion recorded between January and August 2006, two decades ago.

The most significant year in the escalation of Catalonia's trade deficit with China was 2022. Before that date, a negative trade balance of 8 billion euros accumulated in twelve months had never been exceeded, while that year the result climbed to 13.138 billion euros after growing 68% compared to 2021.

China is the country with which Catalonia has the largest trade deficit. Last year, the balance was a negative 12.37 billion euros, almost double that of the second country, Germany, with 6.333 billion euros. The third country is the Netherlands, with 3.035 billion euros.

However, Catalonia also has notable trade surpluses with other countries that compensate, in part, for the deficits. The surplus ranking was led last year by France, with 6.406 billion euros; Portugal, with 4.543 billion, and the United Kingdom, with 3.832 billion.

The sectors that imported the most from China last year were capital goods (4.238 billion), consumer manufactures (4.154 billion), semi-manufactures (2.596 billion), and the automotive sector as a whole (1.815 billion). Imports from all sectors totaled nearly 14.449 billion euros, which are partially offset by exports.

In the case of finished automobiles and motorcycles, which is the area where imports have climbed the most in recent years, Catalonia bought 1.557 billion of these products from China, fourteen times more than in 2019, the last fiscal year before the outbreak of the pandemic. Between January and August 2026, the sector accumulated 1.1124 billion euros in imports of these products from the Asian country, 11.7% more compared to the 995.6 million in the same period last year.

Increase in exports and imports

Apart from the trade relationship with China, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Business published its monthly foreign trade report for Spain for August this Tuesday. According to the document, exports of Catalan goods reached 6,769.9 million euros in August, 5% above the 6,448 million of the same month last year, the highest figure for an August since 2023 and the third highest in the historical series for the eighth month of the year. At the same time, imports also rose by 4.8% year-on-year, to 8,333 million euros, the highest figure ever seen in an August. The comparison between exports and imports results in a trade deficit of 1,563.1 million euros in August in Catalonia, 3.8% more than last year.

In the annual tally between January and August, Catalonia has accumulated 68,098.4 million euros in exports, 2% more than in the same period last year, and 78,490.4 million in imports, 2.6% more. In total, Catalonia's trade deficit with foreign countries rises to 10,392 million euros between January and August, 6.7% more than a year ago.

Since 2021, Catalonia – like Spain as a whole – has strung together years with economic growth rates higher than the European Union average, driven by consumption by families and foreign tourists, but also by business and administration investment (thanks above all to the Next Generation funds). In contexts of growth driven by activity within the territory, it is common for the trade deficit with foreign countries to increase, as domestic production is insufficient to cover demand and companies turn to foreign suppliers.