The Spanish food and beverage industry reduced its real production by 2.6% last year, to 162,459 million euros in value, weighed down by inflation, an “unstable global context” but, above all, by the “climatological effects adverse events”, that is, drought. It is the first time in 10 years that this production has decreased in Spain, except in 2020 where the pandemic and confinement also caused a decrease.
“We came from two previous years with very exceptional growth and far from the trend of previous years marked by, first, the recovery after the pandemic and, second, the extraordinary advance in industrial prices. In parallel, the difficult global situation has created a very tense scenario for the development of the sector, confirming in 2023 the signs of deceleration that were already emerging in previous years,” highlighted Mauricio García de Quevedo, general director of the Spanish Federation of Food and Beverage Industries (FIAB) at a press conference in which they made public the economic report of the sector, in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAPA)
The manager ruled out making a forecast of how the year 2024 will end for the food industry given that “effects of instability remain”, such as geopolitical tensions or drought, although there are other positive effects such as “the moderation of inflation and prices”.
Inflation and price growth have had a decisive impact on families, who have reduced their consumption. While total household consumption has remained stable in value, at 66,371 million euros (a mere 0.1% compared to the previous year’s data), in volumes, total consumption has decreased by 10%, to 22,310 million kilograms marketed in 2023. Average per capita spending has remained stable, with 1,410 euros between January and November 2023 (latest data available according to FIAB) versus 1,428 euros in the same period of 2022.
Exports are also showing signs of slowing down. In this sense, although again due to the effect of inflation, sales outside Spain grew by 3.4% in value, to 47,620 million euros, in volume they decreased by 6.6%, which, in the opinion of FIAB , reflects “a change in trend.” The association points out, among other factors, “a very volatile external framework since 2018 that has affected destination countries, marked by the slowdown of some economies, the rise of protectionist policies, the effects of Brexit, the impact caused by the “COVID-19 pandemic and the consequences of current international conflicts.”
Even with this export weakness, Spain remains one of the main exporters of the food and beverage industry worldwide and in fifth position among the main exporters of the European Union, only behind the Netherlands, Germany, France and Italy. , according to FoodDrinkEurope data provided by FIAB.
Regarding the ranking of the main destination countries for exports in 2023, the European Union continued to be the main trading partner for exports in the sector, with a weight of 58% of the total. France stands out in the first four places, with purchases of 7,208 million euros and a growth of 9.2%; Portugal, which accumulated 5,573 million euros in Spanish purchases and a growth of 12.7%; Italy with 5,507 million euros (4.3% more) and Germany, with 2,985 million euros and a growth of 16%.
In fifth place, and the first non-EU buyer, is the United States, which reduced its purchases by 6.4%, to 2,747 million euros, partly due to the extraordinary performance experienced by sales in previous years, which grew by up to 21%. in 2021. The United Kingdom increased its acquisitions of Spanish products by 9.4%, up to 2,643 million euros. It is followed by China, now the first Asian country in the ranking, with a value of 1,837 million euros and a decline of -23.6% that reflects the drop in its pork imports after the country overcomes the situation of the swine fever, as well as the increase in protectionist measures with obstacles to the importation of food and beverages
