Since two years is Spain under recession.
But 2014 could be a year full of promises for the Iberian Peninsula as the economy shows good results that happen to be positive for the first time in two years, as the GDP even increased by 0,1%.
The automotive industry is boosting the Spanish economy
In November 2013, the Spanish industry reached an annual increase of 2,6% in all sectors. But the sector that mainly helped Spain to get back on her feet is the automotive sector that corresponds to 10% of the Spanish GDP. Spain became the European fifth largest automobile exporter, as 722 703 new cars were sold in 2013, which corresponds to an increase of 3,5% of the sales. Many famous automobile firms that established in Spain such as FASA-Renault, SEAT, Citroën and Ford also contributed to the growth of the sector. On another hand, a scrapping premium that was set up in 2012 boosted demand there most industrials expect the automobile production to increase by 9% in 2014.
Moreover foreign exchanges also played a role in the reversal of the trend beginning of 2013 broke a record exporting for about 118 Million Euros of merchandise across the world. Finally, opening up to the outside and making it a priority to develop the industry was a challenge for Spain but helped the rising out of the recession.
Some sectors still need to prove its worth
First and foremost, Spain focused a lot on the automotive sector but still, some sectors which are related to the car production are also strong and need to be taken care of. Spain produces a lot of tool machines (production that concentrates itself mostly in the Basque Country), but also metal parts for car and shipbuilding. Those sectors have progressed as well and increased by 5,8% in 2013, there are consequently ones of the strongest sectors in the Spanish industry.
Another sector is also growing exponentially, as a result of the new passing laws in Spain about the commercialization of generic medicines. Therefore the pharmaceutical industry is becoming always stronger, as the sales increased a lot during the two past years: 308 new medicines and drugs arrived on the market, among them 221 are generic medicines. The government’s initiatives have supported the biotechnological sector and encouraged partnerships and investments to give a chance to the pharmaceutical industry to develop itself, that used to be in the past a too discrete sector.
Opening out to the outside and especially investing in targeted sectors seems to be the right solution to fight the actual economical crisis. Adam Smith, a Scottish economist, would be much delighted by this economical strategy he was already standing for in the XVIII century: every country has comparative economical advantages that should be used to perform a sectored specialization and an increase of multilateral exchanges.
