Press Release 10/05/2024

INDUSTRIAL SURVEY OF THE BASQUE COUNTRY - REGIONS 2022

The turnover figure for industry in the Basque Country grew in 19 of the 20 regions in the Basque Country, according to the latest available data

Añana (2.9%), Duranguesado (2.7%) and Goierri (1.8%) were the regions with the highest growth in employment in Álava, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa, respectively

In 2022, extraction and manufacturing industry activity in the Basque Country saw turnover rise by 26.1%, with increases in nineteen of the twenty regions, according to Eustat data.

At provincial level, turnover grew in all three provinces, albeit to varying degrees. While in Gipuzkoa it rose by 15.4%, in Álava it increased by 23.6% and in Bizkaia it was up 36.1%.

Turnover at regional level followed the same trend: nineteen of the twenty Basque regions posted positive annual growth rates. Two regions in Álava, Cantábrica Alavesa, which saw a rise of 72.0%, and Estribaciones del Gorbea, where it increased by 40.2%, and Gran Bilbao in Bizkaia, where it was up 44.5%, were the regions with the highest growth. In the case of Gipuzkoa, Donostialdea (19.4%) was the region that experienced the biggest rise in turnover.

Source: Eustat. Industrial Survey

Order OriginalAlphabeticRanking

Order by PersonnelTurnover

Period availables 201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022

While employment in the Basque Country registered an average increase of 1.2%, at regional level, the best-performing regions in this indicator were Añana (2.9%) in Álava, Duranguesado (2.7%) and Gran Bilbao (2.2%) in Bizkaia, and Goierri (1.8%) in Gipuzkoa. Only Montaña Alavesa posted a negative trend, with turnover falling by 7.9% between 2022 and 2021.

As regards gross value added, which is understood as the difference between the value of what is produced and that of the consumption utilised and represents the wealth generated, it rose by 14.6% in 2022 compared to the previous year.

Once again, the trend for the regions as a whole was positive, with eighteen of the twenty Basque regions registering a positive balance. As was the case with turnover, Cantábrica Alavesa was the region that saw the largest increase in value added, with growth of 53.9%.

Álava

Employment in the extraction and manufacturing industries rose by 1.3% in Álava as a whole. As noted above, Añana was the region that recorded the highest year-on-year growth in employment, which stood at 2.9%. On the other hand, employment fell in two of the regions in this province. These were Montaña Alavesa, where employment dropped by 2.8%, and Cantábrica Alavesa, which saw a decline of 0.6% between 2021 and 2022. The three remaining regions posted increases: employment was up 1.7% in both Llanada Alavesa, the region where the provincial capital, Vitoria-Gasteiz, is located, which accounts for 63.7% of employment in the province, and Estribaciones del Gorbea; Rioja Alavesa saw a more moderate rise of 0.6%.

With regard to turnover, it should be pointed out that in the province of Álava it rose by 23.6% compared to the previous year, a trend marked by the region of Llanada Alavesa, where turnover was up 18.4% on 2021. This region, where the provincial capital, Vitoria-Gasteiz, is located, accounted for 68.7% of the total for the province.

Meanwhile, with the exception of Montaña Alavesa, where turnover fell by 7.9%, the other regions in the province registered significant increases. In two of them growth exceeded 40%, namely Estribaciones del Gorbea (40.2%) and, in particular, Cantábrica Alavesa (72%). This region was the second largest in terms of turnover and volume of employment, accounting for 12% of total turnover in Álava and 13.6% of jobs. Lastly, there were Añana, with 13.4% more turnover, and Rioja Alavesa, with 11.5%.

Gross value added for the Basque Country as a whole rose by 14.6%. The regional trend was only negative for two of the twenty regions in the Basque Country, one of which is in Álava, namely Añana, which saw its value added drop by 2%. The province of Álava as a whole recorded growth of 11.7% in value added, and the other regions also saw a positive variation, with significant rises in Cantábrica Alavesa (53.9%) and Estribaciones del Gorbea (14.5%). Increases were also seen in Montaña Alavesa, Rioja Alavesa and Llanada Alavesa, up 8.4%, 7.4% and 6.9%, respectively.

Bizkaia

In Bizkaia, the increase in employment for the province as a whole stood at 1.8% and four of its seven regions posted a positive annual variation. These were Duranguesado, where employment rose by 2.7%, Gran Bilbao (2.2%), Arratia-Nervión (1.1%) and Plentzia-Mungia (1.0%). Employment fell in the other regions; the most significant case occurred in Encartaciones, with 2.4% fewer jobs. Next were Markina-Ondarroa and Gernika-Bermeo, both with a drop of 1.5%.

Two regions set the positive trend with regard to turnover in the province, where there was a total increase of 36.1%. These were Gran Bilbao, which absorbed 69.8% of total turnover, and Duranguesado, with 18.1%, together contributing 87.9% of total turnover recorded in Bizkaia. Both these regions experienced an upward trend of 44.5% and 25.7%, respectively, compared to the previous year. The first, which is in the provincial capital Bilbao, accounted for 54.5% of employment and the second accounted for 24.8%, equal to almost 80% of total jobs.

The other regions in this province, whose figures were also positive, saw less pronounced variations than those mentioned above: there was growth of 16.8% in Arratia-Nervión, 14.8% in Markina-Ondarroa, 11.3% in Gernika-Bermeo and 9.8% in Plentzia-Mungia, while turnover was up 6.7% in Encartaciones, making it the worst-performing region in the province.

In turn, Bizkaia was the province that experienced the biggest increase in value added, at 24.9%. All its regions, except one, posted positive trends, especially Gran Bilbao, with a rise of 33.5%, which was also the region that accumulated more than half of the value added for the province. This region was followed by Duranguesado (up 18.7%), Markina-Ondarroa (8.8%), Gernika-Bermeo (7.7%), Arratia-Nervión (6.7%) and Plentzia-Mungia (6.0%). At the bottom of the list was Encartaciones, the only region in this province that registered a decrease (0.6%) in value added.

Gipuzkoa

In Gipuzkoa, the effects on employment were felt less intensely (0.7%) and, as in Bizkaia, only four of its regions saw their figures improve. Goierri posted the greatest positive variation in employment (1.8%), followed by Donostialdea, with an increase of 1.7%. Between them they accounted for 42.3% of total employment in the province. These two regions were followed by Tolosaldea, where the number of people employed rose by 1.6%, and Urola Kosta, where employment was up 1.4%. The three remaining regions in this province, Alto Deba, Bajo Bidasoa and Bajo Deba, experienced downturns, with employment falling by 0.4%, 1.5% and 2.3%, respectively.

As was the case with employment, Gipuzkoa ranked in third place among the three provinces of the Basque Country in terms of turnover. Despite the more than significant 15.4% increase in turnover, this figure was far from the 23.6% rise in Álava and the 36.1% growth recorded in Bizkaia. The percentage weight of the regions in the province as a whole varied between 4.0% for Bajo Bidasoa and 25.3% for Donostialdea. Goierri, with 20.7%, and Alto Deba, with 16.6%, had similar shares.

At regional level, it varied between the 10.8% more turnover registered in Bajo Bidasoa and the 19.4% seen in Donostialdea, with the latter region, where the provincial capital is located, having a very similar weight in Gipuzkoa’s overall turnover to its share of employment. Donostialdea accounted for 25.3% of turnover and 25.5% of jobs in the province, both of which were lower figures than those of the other regions with provincial capitals in respect of their province. The other regions in this province saw an increase in turnover closer to the provincial average. Alto Deba recorded growth of 16.9%, Urola Kosta 14.7%, Tolosaldea 13.6%, Bajo Deba 13.2% and Goierri 12.7%.

The wealth generated compared to the previous year, value added, performed similarly to turnover and employment in the province of Gipuzkoa, with an increase of 6.6%, thus placing it below Bizkaia (24.9%) and Álava (11.7%). Among its regions, the largest growth in value added occurred in Donostialdea, where it was 10.1% higher than in 2021, followed by Tolosaldea, up 9.7%, Bajo Deba, with 7.6%, Goierri (6.2%), Bajo Bidasoa (6.1%), Urola Kosta (4.6%) and, lastly, the region of Alto Deba, which saw the smallest positive variation, as its value added increased by 1.7%.

Methodological note:

The sectorisation used is the National Classification of Economic Activities (CNAE-2009), with B (extractive industries) and C (manufacturing industries) being the only sections included in this disaggregation by regions.

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