The foreign trade competitiveness of the Spanish economy in the third quarter of 2014, taking the Consumer Price Indices as a reference, increased vis-à-vis the EU due to lower Spanish inflation compared with the average rate of inflation in the other EU countries and the depreciation of the Euro against the currencies of those countries.
Spain gained competitiveness over the OECD due to a slower increase in Spanish prices compared with the moderate average inflation in the other OECD countries and the slight appreciation of the Euro in the third quarter.
When considering the CTI calculated using the Export Unit Value (UVI) in the second quarter of 2014, a gain in competitiveness was posted vis-à-vis the EU and the Eurozone as a result of the greater downturn posted by Spanish export prices compared with the lower average downturn in export prices from the EU countries, in spite of the appreciation by the Euro.
Versus the EU countries with whom we do not share a currency and versus the OECD, there was a loss of competitiveness. Appreciation of the Euro had a negative influence in both cases (to a greater extent with regard to the OECD countries), as did the loss of price competitiveness.