MADRID: Meanwhile, imports fell by 2.3% to 157.84 billion euros. Conversely, in volume terms imports grew by 2.5%, as prices shrank by 4.7%.
Consequently, in the period January to July the trade deficit totalled 8.44 billion euros, 34.5% lower than the figure posted in the same period 2015 (versus a deficit of 12.88 billion euros in July 2015, provisional data), and the second best trade balance for this period since 1994, only bettered by 2013.
The coverage rate stood at 94.7%, 2.6 percentage points higher than in the period January-July 2015 (92.0%), and the second highest rate for the period since the beginning of the data series, bettered only by 2013. The non-energy balance posted a surplus of 1.01 billion euros (versus a surplus of 3.49 billion euros in January-July 2015), while the energy deficit shrank by 42.3% on the back of a substantial drop in energy prices.
If we compare these results with those of other countries, cumulative export growth for Spain (0.5%) contrasts with the negative growth posted by the Eurozone as a whole (-1.4%) and by the European Union (-2.0%). Exports also fell from France (-2.2% year-on-year), Italy (-1.2%), Germany (-0.3%) and UK (-5.0%). Outside the EU, foreign sales also fell in Japan (-9.5%), China (-6.7%) and USA (-6.4%).
