The role of competitiveness in the growth of regional exports of goods

It analyzes the role of competitiveness, external demand and domestic demand in the uninterrupted increase in exports of non-energy goods observed since 2010. Of particular interest are the gains in competitiveness via labour costs due to the possible impact of the reforms implemented during the crisis.

Key points

• Key points:
• The improvements in competitiveness via labour costs explain around 16% of the increase in exports of non-energy goods between 2010 and 2018. Among the Autonomous Communities where this contribution stands out are Castilla y León, Asturias, Murcia, Castilla-La Mancha and Valencia.
• More important has been the role played by the favourable evolution of external demand, which explains around 90% of export growth between 2010 and 2018. Asturias, Navarre, Galicia, Cantabria, Aragon and the Canary Islands are among the communities with the greatest sensitivity of non-energy exports to this factor
• The weakening of domestic demand also contributed to the good performance of sales of goods abroad, although their contribution would have been reduced. Between 2010 and 2013 the fall in domestic demand would have explained between 1% and 15% of the increase in exports, while between 2014 and 2018 its recovery would have reduced the equivalent of 100% of the growth in exports observed.
• Since 2018 there has been a slowdown in exports of non-energy goods that cannot be explained either by losses in competitiveness or by a marked weakness in demand from major trading partners. Among the reasons that could be weakening the growth of Spanish sales abroad are the uncertainty surrounding trade tensions or regulatory changes affecting the automotive sector.

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