However, three regions of Alava- the Rioja Alavesa, Estribaciones del Gorbea and Valles Alaveses- are the ones with the highest GDP per inhabitant

Olaberria, in the province of Gipuzkoa, is the municipality with the highest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita in the A.C. of the Basque Country, according to data published by EUSTAT. The municipalities of Zamudio and Zierbena, both in the province of Bizkaia, were in second and third place respectively. Legutiano was the municipality in Álava with the highest GDP per capita and was fourth in terms of the Autonomous Community overall.

The municipal GDP per capita indicator measures the wealth generated in a municipality by the production factors (factories, commercial establishments, service companies,…) installed in its territorial area per resident.

In terms of the sectorial distribution of GDP in these four municipalities, the significant weight of the high-added value industrial branches was common to all four, together with, in the case of Zamudio, the strength of the service sector associated with the Technological Park.

Table 1. Municipalities with higher GDP per capita (euros) and their sectorial distribution (%). 2005

Source: EUSTAT

By regions, the three regions with the highest GDP per capita were in the province of Álava, with first place going to the Rioja Alavesa, whose high value was based on the strength of the wine industry and its low population density. The municipalities of Laguardia and Villabuena de Álava/Eskuernaga headed the leader board in this region.

The regions of Estribaciones del Gorbea and Valles Alaveses were in second and third place. The Alto Deba region in Gipuzkoa and the Duranguesado, in Bizkaia, were in fourth and fifth place respectively.

Yet again, special mention should be made of the important role of industry that played in the total added value of all these regions, compared to the structure of the economy of the A.C. of the Basque Country overall, where the service sector accounted for the highest percentage.

With regard to the evolution of the GDP per capita over the last ten years, the municipalities of Zierbena in Bizkaia and Arama in Gipuzkoa are the ones that have registered the greatest growth, with accumulative annual average increases of 39.1% and 32.8% respectively. The average for the A.C. of the Basque Country is 7.2%.

Other significant increases were recorded by Olaberria (18,.9%) in Gipuzkoa, Bernedo (16.6%) and Berantevilla (16.5%) in Álava, and Mañaria (16.3%) and Larrabetzu (15.2%) in Bizkaia.

Table 2. Municipalities with highest growth in GDP per capita (euros). 1996-2005

Source: EUSTAT

From the perspective of productivity, based on the GDP per employed person ratio, in other words, the number of people employed in the companies located in each municipality instead of its population, the municipalities in first place were Zierbena and Muskiz, both in Bizkaia, followed in third and fourth place by the municipalities of Zambrana in Álava and Olaberría in Gipuzkoa, respectively.

Table 3. Municipalities with highest GDP per employed person (euros). 2005

Source: EUSTAT

In terms of provincial regions, the Rioja Alavesa was yet again the region with the highest GDP per employed person, followed in this case by the Valles Alaveses and the Goierri region in Gipuzkoa. The region with the highest GDP per employed person in Bizkaia was the Duranguesado.