Industrial turnover rose by 23.1 percent in April compared to the same month in 2021, with the pace 9.5 points higher than in March and marking the strongest level since May of last year. The data come from the National Institute of Statistics (INE).
Turnover across the sector advances in April continued a streak of gains, extending a 14-month run of growth after a year marked by negative performance during the Covid period.
By component, energy sales jumped 142.9 percent year over year, while intermediate goods billing increased by 23.9 percent. Other notable gains appeared in non-durable consumer goods (+17.6 percent) and durable consumer goods (+15.1 percent). In contrast, capital goods contracted, with a 2.2 percent year-over-year decline in April.
Within branches, the winners by annual rate included Coke ovens and oil refining at +142.9 percent; the manufacture of jewellery, bijouterie, and musical instruments at +41.6 percent; metallurgy at +33.9 percent; and the paper industry at +33.6 percent. On the downside, the tobacco industry fell by 27.8 percent, along with declines in marine, railway, aerospace construction and combat vehicles (−22.9 percent), computer generation (−11.8 percent), and motor vehicle manufacturing (−4.7 percent).
After adjusting for calendar effects and seasonality, sector turnover still rose 27.4 percent year over year in April, 16 points higher than March, and it was the highest reading since May 2021.
Looking at the first four months of the year, sector turnover averaged a 19.6 percent year-over-year increase. Highlights include jumpy sales in Coke ovens and oil refining (+106.5 percent) and jewelry and costume jewelry manufacturing (+54.1 percent). Conversely, the strongest quarterly declines occurred in motor vehicle manufacturing (−9.9 percent) and the tobacco industry (−9.2 percent).
Sales rose by 15.8 percent month over month
Seasonally and calendar-adjusted data show April versus March delivering a 15.8 percent rise in sector turnover, the largest monthly increase since June 2020 as Spain started to ease restrictions after the health crisis.
Across all sectors, April sales rose versus March, with intermediate goods leading the gains (+16.1 percent), followed by energy (+12.1 percent), non-durable consumer goods (+9.9 percent), capital goods (+7.7 percent), and durable consumer goods (+7.3 percent).
Further increases were seen in activities such as metallurgy (+27.9 percent), other non-metallic mineral product manufacturing (+26.1 percent), and motor vehicle production (+24.7 percent). The main monthly declines were in other transportation equipment (−23.3 percent), tobacco (−5.3 percent), and computer product manufacturing (−4.6 percent).
Sales rose across all communities
Sector turnover in April showed year-over-year growth in every autonomous community.
The strongest gains were observed in Murcia (+62.9 percent), the Balearic Islands (+41.5 percent), Andalusia (+38.1 percent), Castile-La Mancha (+35.8 percent), Cantabria (+32.6 percent), and the Basque Country (+28.5 percent). More moderate increases occurred in Galicia (+10 percent), Madrid (+10.5 percent), and Navarre (+13.7 percent).
Source attribution: INE data as reported for April figures.