Catalan high technology exports increase 9% in 2017

Catalonia exported industrial products to the value of 67,461.2 million euros in 2017, an increase of 8.9% over the previous year. According to the Statistical Institute of Catalonia (Idescat), exports of a high technological nature showed a value of 7,314.9 million euros in 2017, a figure representing 11% of Catalan exports and the 29% of all high technology exports from Spain as a whole. This 9% sales increase over the previous year is mainly due to the rise in sales of computer, electronic and optical products (21.2%), as pharmaceutical products have also grown, but with less intensity (4.3%). In terms of destination of exports, the 11.3% increase in high tech sales to the European Union is noteworthy, while sales to the rest of the world increased by 6.5%.

Sales of medium high-level industrial products, which account for almost half of industrial product exports, came to 32,395 million euros in 2017. This figure represents a 5.4% increase compared to 2016, mainly due to the increase in sales of chemical products (9%). In terms of destination of exports, sales to the European Union increased by 4.2% and those going to the rest of the world by 8.3%.

Exports of low-level products, with a value of 10,206.4 million euros, showed the greatest growth compared to the previous year (27.9%). The increase in exports to countries outside the European Union was 47.6%, far higher than exports going to the European Union (19%).

Sales abroad of products of low technological level, showing a value of 17,544.9 million euros, increased by 6.1% in 2017. In terms of destination, exports of this kind to the European Union grew by 7.4% with sales to the rest of the world growing by 3.7%.