STRUCTURE OF THE SPANISH ECONOMY BY ECONOMIC SECTORS AND EMPLOYMENT (2021 and 2022)
Sometimes colleagues, friends, students, journalists, etc. They ask about the sectoral structure of production and employment in the Spanish economy. The National Accounts data published today by the INE (and also those of the Active Population Survey for the second quarter of 2022). I put it below in case it may be useful to you.
Sectoral structure of the Spanish economy
The Spanish productive fabric is characterized by a high weight of the services sector and by a low presence of the industrial sector. Although this has not always been the case, the data from the National Accounts and the Active Population Survey show that in the 1970s and 1980s the weight of industry and energy in national production and employment exceeded 25 %.
The data in Table 1 show, however, that since 1970 Spain has recorded a gradual decline in the contribution of industry to GDP, while the service sector has gained more weight over time. Thus, since 1970, the services sector has grown in importance, going from representing 46% of GDP in 1970 to 75% in 2022. This tertiarization is common in the economic development process of most countries. In this sense, Spain is a service economy and has a significant number of companies that are very competitive in this sector. For example, a good part of Spanish investment abroad and of exports is in the sectors banking, distribution, engineering, management and construction of infrastructures (airports, highways, etc.), water and waste management, hotels, production and energy distribution, renewable energy, insurance, telephony, etc.
Table 1 – Structure of production in the Spanish economy (Data in percentage)
| Agriculture and fishing | energy industry | Building | Services | |
| 1970 | 11,0% | 34,0% | 8,8% | 46,2% |
| 1980 | 7,0% | 28,6% | 7,9% | 56,5% |
| 1990 | 5,5% | 25,1% | 8,8% | 60,6% |
| 2000 | 4,1% | 20,6% | 10,1% | 65,2% |
| 2005 | 3,0% | 18,8% | 11,6% | 66,6% |
| 2010 | 2,6% | 17,2% | 8,8% | 71,4% |
| 2015 | 2,5% | 17,1% | 5,5% | 74,9% |
| 2021 | 2,9% | 16,9% | 5,6% | 74,6% |
Source: INE (2022)
In terms of employment, and starting in the 1980s (see table 2), the industry began to lose importance. Thus, while the population employed in the service sector has been increasing its percentage of the total number of employed workers, industry has been reducing its participation.
Table 2.- Structure of employment in the Spanish economy (Data in percentage)
| Agriculture and fishing | energy industry | Building | Services | |
| 1970 | 29,3% | 25,3% | 8,9% | 36,5% |
| 1980 | 18,6% | 27,2% | 9,3% | 44,9% |
| 1990 | 11,5% | 23,7% | 9,8% | 55,0% |
| 2000 | 6,8% | 18,8% | 12,0% | 62,4% |
| 2010 | 4,6% | 13,8% | 9,3% | 72,3% |
| 2015 | 4,3% | 13,6% | 5,8% | 76,2% |
| 2022 | 3,9% | 13,6% | 6,5% | 76,0% |
Source: INE (2022/2nd quarter)
Table 2 also shows a spectacular increase in the participation of the construction sector in total employment up to the year 2000. However, the real estate crisis from 2008 has changed the trends, and thus from 2005, construction their participation in employment decreases, observing at the same time a significant weight loss in terms of production.
The industry has had a strong contraction until 2022, both in terms of production (table 1) and in terms of employment (table 2).