Seville, (EFE).- The Andalusian industry has advanced steadily in recent years until reaching 13.5% of the GDP of the autonomous community in 2022, the greatest relative weight in more than two decades since the year 2000, and it exceeds by one point the percentage that tourism represents in the Gross Domestic Product (around 12.5%).
In this process of progress, the Andalusian industry grew by 5% last year, two percentage points above the national average (3%), which has favored a notable increase in the weight of the sector in the productive structure of the region, according to data provided by the Ministry of Industrial Policy.
Another data that shows its strength is the contribution to the industrial Gross Value Added (VAB) of Spain, which went from 9.97% in 2021 to 10.86% in 2022, an additional percentage point, despite the context of difficulties in the global supply chains of raw materials and the increase in energy costs, which has a particularly negative impact on Andalusian industry because it is energy intensive.
Dynamism in the Andalusian industry for GDP
The leading role corresponds to the manufacturing industry in which employment has grown, including advanced and scientific services, going from 459,484 workers in 2015 to 529,089 in 2021, accompanied by greater job stability with a temporary rate in the year 2021 of 26.5%.
In fact, the number (between 10 and 49 workers) of manufacturing companies and industrial services has grown, which, in 2021, was 4,314, 1.5% more than the previous year.
The number of exporting industrial companies has also increased, 25.5% more in 2021 compared to 2015, with an increase in their turnover in that period of 34.6%, going from 16.5 to 22.2 million of euros.
This industrial dynamism is the result of a shift in the Junta’s industrial policy in line with the objectives of the decarbonization of the economy with a strong commitment to clean energy and green hydrogen as a lever for the industrialization of Andalusia and with an essential role of mining as a supplier of the raw materials necessary for digital transformation.
To achieve these objectives, the Ministry has articulated three action plans, the first CRECE industry 2021-2022 has yielded a balance of 3,170 projects benefiting from support initiatives managed by the Board, 352 of them in high and medium-high technology sectors, with a total investment of 6,757 million, of which 234 million has been contributed by the Board and 65 million by the State, which represents a multiplying factor of 22 in resource mobilization.
investment with employment
The employment associated with these projects is quantified at almost 40,000, more than three times the number initially forecast.
One of the “hits”, according to the Ministry of Industrial Policy, have been the sectoral plans, of which eight have been approved so far, including those for stone and marble; the cement; the chemical sector; wood and furniture; the metallurgical; the textile, leather and footwear sector; and the building industry.
This promotion strategy has been supported by the promotion of industrial sectors through Extenda and the investment attraction unit, Invest in Andalucía, with 33 committed projects, which represent an estimated investment of more than 138 million and the creation of 2,127 direct permanent jobs.
One of the measures that is contributing the most to attracting capital and employment is the assignment to the Project Accelerator Unit of 44 industrial initiatives of strategic interest, which entail an investment of 4,250 million and more than 24,000 jobs.
In addition, complementary aid to regional economic incentives has been deployed, endowed with 150 million of the Junta’s own funds, with a balance, so far, of 29 applications for driving projects that have received the two open calls, with an associated investment of 1,400 million. EFE