Economy of Spain
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Overview
Spain inherited a fascist economy from General Franco's regime, characterized by lack of economic freedom. International trade was limited, even if a free trade agreement with the EC had been signed in 1970. Industrial relations were clearly shaped by the fascist ideology, as only an association of both patrons and employees, called sindicato vertical, was legal. No right to strike existed. Hiring and firing was complex and expensive. Interventionism was widespread: basic products like bread and sugar had their prices fixed by the government. Large public firms controlled all sectors seen as strategic. Monopoly was common (e.g.: Telephone, tobacco, television, petrol, etc.). No freedom to open your shop 24/7 existed. Banking was controlled. Both passive and active interest rates were fixed by the government. All these rigidities and more lead to 10 years of industrial crisis (1975-1985), reduced convergence with Europe and expressed the need to modernize the economy and join the EC.
Spain's accession to the European Community, now European Union (EU), in January 1986 required the country to open its economy, modernize its industrial base, improve infrastructure, and revise economic legislation to conform to EU guidelines. In doing so, Spain increased GDP growth, reduced the public debt to GDP ratio, reduced unemployment from 23% to 10%, and reduced inflation to under 3%. The fundamental challenges remaining for Spain include reducing the public sector deficit, decreasing unemployment further, reforming labor laws and investment regulations, lowering inflation, and raising per capita GDP.
Following peak growth years in the late 1980s, the Spanish economy entered into recession in mid-1992. The economy recovered during the first Aznar administration (1996-2000), driven by a return of consumer confidence and increased private consumption, although growth has slowed in recent years. Unemployment remains a problem at 11.7% (2003 est.), but this still represents a significant improvement from previous levels. Devaluations of the peseta during the 1990s made Spanish exports more competitive, but the strength of the euro since its adoption has raised recent concerns that Spanish exports are being priced out of the range of foreign buyers. However, this has been offset by the facilitation of trade among the euro nations.
Statistics
GDP: purchasing power parity - $1026.340 billion (2005 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 3.2% (2005 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $22,000 (2003 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 3.4%
industry: 30.1%
services: 66.5% (2003 est.)
Population below poverty line: NA%
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 2.8%
highest 10%: 25.2% (1990)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2.6% (2003 est.)
Labor force: 17.1 million (2001 est.)
Labor force - by occupation: services 64%, manufacturing, mining, and construction 29%, agriculture 7% (2001est.)
Unemployment rate: 11.7% (2003 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $105 billion
expenditures: $109 billion, including capital expenditures of $12.8 billion (2000 est.)
Industries: textiles and apparel (including footwear), food and beverages, metals and metal manufactures, chemicals, shipbuilding, automobiles, machine tools, tourism.
Industrial production growth rate: 0.6% (2003 est.)
Electricity - production: 222,500 GWh (2001)
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 50.4%
hydro: 18.2%
nuclear: 27.2%
other: 4.1% (2001)
Electricity - consumption: 210,400 GWh (2001)
Electricity - exports: 4,138 GWh (2001)
Electricity - imports: 7,588 GWh (2001)
Agriculture - products: grain, vegetables, olives, wine grapes, sugar beets, citrus; beef, pork, poultry, dairy products; fish
Exports: $159.4 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)
Exports - commodities: machinery, motor vehicles; foodstuffs, other consumer goods
Exports - partners: France 19%, Germany 11.4%, UK 9.6%, Portugal 9.5%, Italy 9.3%, US 4.6% (2002)
Imports: $197.1 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)
Imports - commodities: machinery and equipment, fuels, chemicals, semifinished goods; foodstuffs, consumer goods (1997)
Imports - partners: France 17%, Germany 16.5%, Italy 8.6%, UK 6.4%, Netherlands 4.8% (2002)
Debt - external: $90 billion (1993 est.)
Economic aid - donor: ODA, $1.33 billion (1999)
Currency: 1 euro (€) = 100 cents (before 2002, 1 peseta (Pta) = 100 céntimos)
Exchange rates: euros per US dollar - 0.89 (2003), 1.06 (2002), 1.12 (2001), 1.09 (2000), 0.94 (1999)
Fiscal year: calendar year
See also
- OECD's Spain country Web site and OECD Economic Survey of Spain
- Economy of Europe
- Spain
- List of Spanish companies
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