EU member states are Spain’s most important economic partners. Spain handles about 70 percent of its imports and exports with these member states. France has the largest share of the import and export business. Trailing France, as far as exports to Spain are concerned, is the German Federal Republic. Spain’s foreign trade volume clearly increased in 2004 to about 380 billion Euros. About 147 billion Euros came from exports and some 191 billion Euros came from imports. For 2005 the „Bundesagentur für Außenwirtschaft“ (Federal agency for foreign trade) expects a foreign trade volume of up to 352 billion Euros.

The Spanish economy has become more global and is more involved in foreign countries. The target region for 2004 was the EU with about 48 percent (Germany 11 percent). With an estimated more than 1,100 companies, it is estimated that Germany has the largest number of foreign subsidiaries in Spain. Many of these companies have been operating in Spain for many years. Some 250 have manufacturing sites on the Iberian Peninsula.

The production environment in Spain has changed with increasing wealth. The wage discrepancy in comparison to Germany has been reduced. Today, wages in Spain are about 2/3 of German wages with significant branch-specific differences. Non-wage labour costs are on average 36.9 percent of wages. In Germany the employer pays up to 85 percent of those costs. Companies are in most cases taxed at 35 percent. The minimum income tax is 15 percent, the maximum is 45 percent.

Key trade figures Germany / Spain 2004
Key figure	Value
Sales (as compared to previous year)	52.675 billion € (+7.5%)
Imports from Spain to Germany	17.57 billion €
Exports from Spain to France	35.105 billion €
Balance	17.534 billion €
in % of total Spanish imports (of total German import)	16.2
in % of total Spanish export (of total German export)	9.2
Ranking on the German trade partner list export / import	8th / 11th

Sources: Federal Statistical Office, Federal Offce for Foreign Trade, Department of State