The sectoral evolution of the Spanish economy in the last 47 years is characterized by widespread export abroad in addition to outsourcing.

Study by the Spanish Chamber of Commerce and the General Council of Economists

In the last 47 years, the growing internationalization of all sectors has been notable, largely driven since 1986 by the entry into the European Union. Exports in Spain have grown in recent years to reach 41% of GDP at the end of 2022.

---

 

The behavior of our sectoral fabric throughout these 47 years of democracy is characterized by a clear trend towards a greater weight of the services sector and the loss of specific weight of agriculture. In general terms, in the face of crucial events of the period such as our incorporation into the European Union, the 2008 financial crisis and the coronavirus pandemic, our productive sectors have shown an optimal degree of adaptation, especially in terms of internationalization and innovation. 

This is one of the conclusions of the study “+45 years of evolution of the main sectors of the Spanish economy (1975-2022)”, drawn up by the Chamber of Commerce of Spain and the General Council of Economists of Spain, and which was presented today by the presidents of both institutions, José Luis Bonet and Valentín Pich, along with the studio directors.

The objective of this report – led by economists Salvador Marin, director of the CGE Studies Service and president of the European Federation of Accountants and Auditors for SMEs, and Raul Minguez, director of the Studies Service of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce–, and in which researchers from different Spanish universities and the study teams themselves have participated, has consisted of analyzing the trajectory followed by the main sectors of our economy in the last 47 years, addressing the evolutionary details of the analyzed sectors and their characteristics, globally and in detail for each of the sectors. To achieve this, the quantitative analysis of statistical indicators has been combined with the qualitative vision of the companies themselves. This work continues the two previously presented that analyzed, for the same period as the one now presented, the economic, social and institutional evolution of Spain – first published – and of the Autonomous Communities in Spain –second of the series–. 

The president of the Chamber of Spain, José Luis Bonet, has pointed out that “the key to Spain's progress in the period analyzed has been institutional stability based on the consensus on which the transition was built. Based on the agreement and the high vision, all of us Spaniards have participated in the success story that is Spain.”

In this same sense it has been expressed president of the General Council of Economists of Spain, Valentín Pich, who pointed out that "as President Bonet has stated, the evolution of our country in recent years has been a success story thanks to the desire to progress of all Spaniards and the explicit and implicit complicity of public administrations." Pich has highlighted how “in general terms, The main sectors of our economy have known how to adapt in these 47 years to the situations that have occurred over time”. “If we had to define our business fabric with a single word, it would undoubtedly be 'resilience',” he stated. However, the president of the economists has warned that "currently we are facing a very complex horizon and with more actors at the international level, so, given the weight that the public sector has in our economy, we now need more Let this never continue to be an accomplice, and not a difficulty, to continue growing.” 

During the presentation, Raul Minguez has stressed “that Spanish companies as a whole have achieved greater internationalization, innovation and training of workers throughout the period, which has posed a great challenge for each and every sector and, in parallel, has favored business and aggregate productivity”.

For its part, Salvador Marin has declared that “the exercise carried out has been satisfactory. The statistics and their interpretation, you will be able to verify, show us interesting patterns that provide additional help to understand the sectoral evolution of our country during the last 47 years, where the sectoral analysis of the Spanish economy provides us with a significant perspective on modernization. occurred in our business fabric, and thus it is concluded that the different sectors have known how to transform and adapt to events throughout the period studied. In most cases, in times of crisis, the branches of activity have been harmed, but afterwards they have known how to adapt and reverse these trends.” Taking into account these issues, for Marín “the outsourcing of the Spanish economy from the late 70s to the present day is unquestionable, as well as the indisputable improvement in the internationalization of all the sectors analyzed and their efforts in innovation to make them competitive within a panorama.” of globalization.”

Evolution of the weight of the sectors in the national economy 

According to the study, in the interval from 1980 to 2018, the sector that presents the greatest relative increase in the Gross Value Added (GVA), With 161,29%, it is the financial sector, which doubles the second sector with the highest increase in this interval, that of the automotive industry – with 77,23%. These are followed by the aggregate health and education sector, which grows by just over 53%, and the block that brings together the rest of the services with close to 42%; Therefore, these four sectors are the ones that increased their weight the most in the GVA in this period, along with the 25,29% increase in the telecommunications sector. On the contrary, in those 38 years, agriculture and the food industry decreased their relative participation by about 42% and 39%, respectively. Likewise, the construction sector also reduces its weight in the national total by almost 22%, and commerce, almost 15%.

It should be noted that, although the sectoral evolution of the economy has been trending towards a greater prominence of the services sector, from 1980 to 2018 the aggregate block of other services without counting the financial sector or tourism has had, on average, a weight in the GVA around 17%, in similar percentages as the construction sector, or the industry block excluding the automotive sector, around 15%, compared to the lowest level of 2% on average for agriculture.

 

In the interval from 1995 to 2020, the sector with the highest number of exports is the rest of the industrial branches – not counting the automotive and agri-food industry –, from 40 MM/€ in 1995 to 140 MM/€ in 2020, although Also noteworthy in this sense is the advance of internationalization in the automotive industry between 1995 and 2015.

 

 

Employment and number of companies by sector

Another aspect analyzed in the study was related to employment figures by sector and their evolution. Taking into account this indicator, in the interval from 1995 to 2020, the sectors that have increased the most in the number of people employed have been in the services sector – not counting tourism or financial services – which, with an increase of 99,48%, The number of jobs in 2020 almost doubles compared to 1995. This is followed by the energy sector (82%) and tourism (almost 69%). On the contrary, in these 25 years the workforce in agriculture has decreased significantly, by almost 27%, and in the aggregate block of the automotive industry and other industrial branches, by 48%. 

In addition to this evolution, if we analyze the weight of employment by sector with respect to the country's total employment, most sectors present similar levels from 1995 to 2020, although with different fluctuations. It is worth highlighting the increase in the weight of employment for this interval of the rest of services block, 41% more from 1995 to 2020. Likewise, in the opposite direction, the loss of employment volume throughout that period in agriculture is notable ( -93%) and the automotive industry (-87%).

Regarding the sectors that have grown the most in number of companies – according to data from the Central Business Directory (DIRCE) which has data since 1999¬–, that corresponding to the rest of services is the one that grows the most with almost 415.000 more companies in 2021 than in 1999. In this period almost all areas increased their number of companies except the industrial, commerce and transport.

Internationalization

In the last 47 years, the growing internationalization of all sectors has been notable, largely driven since 1986 by our entry into the European Union. Exports in Spain have grown in recent years to reach 41% of GDP at the end of 2022. In the interval from 1995 to 2020, the sector with the highest number of exports is the rest of the industrial branches - not counting automotive and agri-food industry–, from 40 MM/€ in 1995 to 140 MM/€ in 2020, although the advance of internationalization in the automotive industry between 1995 and 2015 is also notable in this sense. Likewise, it is worth highlighting this regarding the notable dynamism of the agri-food industry, which doubles the invoiced volume of exports in the period 2009-2019, going from 16 MM/€ in 2009 to 32,5 MM/€ in 2019. 

Post-pandemic situation

At the end of 2022 compared to 2019, the aggregate primary sector (agriculture, livestock, forestry and fishing) has been the only one that has increased its sectoral GDP. On the contrary, at the end of the third quarter of 2022, the industrial and services sectors had not yet recovered their pre-pandemic GDP levels. In terms of employment, the changes related to the decline in employment in agriculture – 14% less in 2022 compared to 2019 – and construction – 12,24% – are notable. On the contrary, the number of employees in the rest of the services block increased by 4,23% after the pandemic.