Press Release 24/06/2021

MUNICIPAL ACTIVITY STATISTICS. 01-01-2020

The unemployment rate fell in practically every region and in 3 out of 4 municipalities in the Basque Country in 2020

Three-quarters of the population in employment residing in the Basque Country work in the service sector

The Municipal Activity Statistics for 2020 reflect a reduction in the unemployment rate for the population aged 16 and over residing in the Basque Country, compared to the previous year, extending to 19 of the 20 regions and 60% of municipalities, according to data processed by Eustat.

At regional level, the range of variation in the unemployment rate between one year and another is reasonably broad. As such, in Encartaciones, the region that registered the greatest decrease, it dropped 1.4 percentage points, with the unemployment rate at 12.4% in 2020, although it is still the region with the highest unemployment rate. At the other end of the scale, in the Bajo Bidasoa and Añana regions, the reduction was confined to one tenth of a percentage point, with an unemployment rate of 10.7% in the case of the former and 9.5% for the latter. Montaña Alavesa, however, is the only region where the unemployment rate did not change, as the unemployment rate remains at 7%.

Down at the municipal level, we can observe that six out of ten Basque municipalities saw their unemployment rate drop between 2019 and 2020, in three out of ten it increased and in 15 municipalities the unemployment rate remained the same.

In terms of municipality population size, it should be noted that there are no significant differences between the various strata, with rates decreasing by similar amounts.

In the stratum of less than 10,000 inhabitants, the unemployment rate fell an average of six tenths of a point compared to 2019. In this category, it is also worth noting the municipalities with the lowest population, where the decrease was significantly greater than the aforementioned average. This is the case for Lanestosa, Navaridas, Beizama and Lizartza, municipalities where the unemployment rate fell by more than 4 percentage points, with an unemployment rate of 10.8%, 3.1%, 3.3% and 7.3%, respectively, in 2020.

The next size stratum encompasses municipalities with a population between 10,000 and 40,000 inhabitants. Here the average decrease in the unemployment rate is 0.5 tenths of a percentage point, with an unemployment rate of 9.4% in 2020. In this population range, it is worth noting the municipalities with the sharpest decline, as follows: Sestao, with an unemployment rate of 15.6% and a drop of 1.7 percentage points in 2020; Valle de Trápaga-Trapagarán, with an unemployment rate of 11.2% and a decrease of 1.2 percentage points; and the municipalities of Laudio/Llodio and Arrasate/Mondragón, with rates of 11% and 9.1%, respectively, and a drop of 1.1 percentage points in both cases.

For its part, the decrease in the population stratum of 40,000 to 100,000 inhabitants is identical to that of the Basque Country as a whole, 0.6 percentage points, with an unemployment rate of 11.3%. This performance was bettered by the municipalities of Santurtzi with a drop of 1.1 points and a rate of 13.8%; Barakaldo, one point less and a rate of 11.6%, and Getxo with a rate of 8.7%, a fall of 0.9 tenths of a point over the last year.

Lastly, the trend for the three capitals was just as positive. The unemployment rate in Bilbao fell from 13.2% in 2019 to 12.3% in 2020, that is, nine tenths of a point; in Vitoria-Gasteiz, the unemployment rate fell seven tenths of a point and stood at 10.5% in 2020, having been 11.2% in 2019; for its part, Donostia/San Sebastián fell half a point, with an unemployment rate of 8% in 2020, compared to 8.5% in 2019.

The employment rate in the three capitals ranges between 52.3% in Vitoria-Gasteiz, 50.8% in Donostia/San Sebastián and 48% in Bilbao

In terms of municipality size, municipalities with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants registered the highest employment rate in these areas (53.1%), on average. This stratum includes municipalities with highly contrasting rates: some have very high employment rates in relative terms, such as Astigarraga (68.3%), Irura (66.9%), Aduna (65.4%), Larraul (64.8%) and Elburgo/Burgelu (63.8%); and other municipalities have comparatively low employment rates, such as Yécora/lekora, 37.8%, Lanestosa, 39.4%, Harana/Valle de Arana, 40.4% and Lagrán, with an employment rate of 40.6% in 2020.

In the stratum of 10,000 to 40,000 inhabitants, it is worth noting the high employment rates for Etxebarri, 61.4%, and Sopela, 58.4%. Among the municipalities with over 40,000 inhabitants, only Errenteria, with a rate of 51.5%, is above the average of 50.8% for the Basque Country as a whole.

As regards the capitals, the highest employment rate corresponds to Vitoria-Gasteiz, at 52.3%, followed by Donostia/San Sebastián with an employment rate of 50.8%, and Bilbao, where the employment rate is 48%.

The municipalities with the highest proportion of people employed in industry were in Gipuzkoa , in agriculture they were in Álava and in the service sector, in Bizkaia.

The distribution of the population between the various sectors of activity shows that in 2020, 74.9% of the population in employment worked in the service sector, 18.5% in industry, 5.6% in construction and 1% in agriculture.

As regards each sector, in the agricultural sector, a high percentage of people in employment can be found in Álava in the municipalities of Yécora/Iekora, where 59.8% of the population in employment work in this sector, Baños de Ebro/Mañueta, with 58.7%, Navaridas, with 53.8% and Elvillar/Billar, with 51%.

There is a high level of industrial sector employment in Gipuzkoa in the municipalities of Oñati (46.9%), Antzuola (44.7%) and Eskoriatza (43%), which register well over double the average rate for the Basque Country, 18.5%.

In the service sector it is worth highlighting the municipalities of Getxo, Plentzia, Bilbao, Gorliz, Berango and Sopela in Bizkaia, among others, all of which had an employment rate in the sector of over 80%. With regard to municipalities in Gipuzkoa, it is worth highlighting Donostia/San Sebastián, where 8 out of 10 people in employment also work in the service sector.

Lastly, in terms of construction sector employment, the municipalities of Lanestosa (14.1%), Beizama (13.8%) and Harana/Valle de Arana (13.3%) are worthy of note for the proportion of their population employed in this sector.

The percentage variance between the sexes fell in both the employment rate and the unemployment rate

In 2020 the unemployment rate for women was 47.1% compared to 54.8% for men, almost 8 points higher. The previous year, the difference was 8.5 points, with an employment rate of 46.5% for women and 55% for men.

As regards the unemployment rate, in 2020 it was 11.1% for women and 9.2% in the case of men. The female rate fell nine tenths of a point from 2019, while for males there was a drop of four tenths, a change in the variance between the sexes from 2.4 percentage points in 2019 to 1.9 points in 2020, that is, the variance decreased by 5 tenths of a point.

For further information:

Eustat - Euskal Estatistika Erakundea / Basque Statistics Institute C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz Press service: servicioprensa@eustat.es Tel: 945 01 75 62