INDICATORS OF THE SPANISH FOOD INDUSTRY

Remarkable is the presence of SMEs in the EU, with 99.1% of all 286,000 existing businesses as well as global production volume which places the food industry as the main European manufacturing industry (14.6% of total), with annual rates of very important growth in 2012-2013 they stood at + 3.1%.

The Spanish food industry ranks fifth in sales value after Germany, France, Italy and the UK, the first national industrial sector, accounting for 20.6% of net product sales, 18.2% of employed persons , 16.8% of investments in tangible assets and 15.3% of value added.

According to data collected by the Annual Industrial Companies Survey 2013, National Institute of Industry, the national food industry not only keeps annual indicators of positive economic growth in volume (+ 1.4%); also one of the main sectors of job creation, so the INE says it is next to tourism, one of the Spanish locomotives sector as it is getting even larger volumes of productivity, dragging the entire Spanish economy.

The negative figure, however, is the low investment in tangible assets, down compared to previous years (-11.8%), due to the economic crisis of recent years, which has invested in other concepts at once of restricted banking market. In addition, there has been a reduction of 1.2% in the number of companies, continuing the trend shown in previous years, adjustment and balance of the sector and trying to improve their excessive fragmentation. The number of establishments has fallen in turn by 0.7%, continuing the trend of previous years.

The number of companies in the food industry, according to the latest figures from INE (Central Directory of Companies CCD), to January 1, 2014, was 28 372, of which by regions Andalusia has 5,230 companies (18.4% ), followed by Catalonia with 3,408 (12%), Castilla Leon with 3,024 (10.7%) and Castilla la Mancha with 2,361 (8.3%)

Regarding employment data, the excessive fragmentation surprised by number of employees, since more than 80% of companies in the industry is for those with fewer than 10 employees, of which 25.9% are self-employed without employees and 54.3% companies with more than 1 and less than 10 employees. Only 3.4% of companies have more than 50 employees. The number of employed in the food industry, according to data from the Industrial Companies Survey 2013, increased compared to the same data of the previous year at 2,498 people, amounting to 355 321 people and an increase of + 0.7%.

Regarding the performance of the processed food trade, we must highlight its exponential growth in recent years, demonstrating a substantial improvement in competitiveness. In 2014 the export value was 24067.9 million and imports of 17964.8 million. Very positive balance with a higher rate of coverage than that recorded in recent years, currently standing at 134%.

According to the Department of Customs and Excise, the most representative products exported in 2014 were olive oil (2.895 M €); vegetables and canned vegetables (2,579 M €); pigmeat (2,547 M €); wines (2,517 M €) and various food preparations (1,346 M €). Imported in the same period products are olive oils (1,282 M €); various food preparations (1,009 M €); vegetables and canned vegetables (976 M €); cheeses (920 M €) and sugar and confectionery (891 M€)

Finally, note the strength and growth of the food industry as a leader in the Spanish GDP again: in real terms, production increased by 3.8% in 2014, which translates into 93.238 million euros, more than double the figure recorded by the manufacturing industry (1.7%). In nominal terms, the sector has experienced a growth of 1.94% over 2013. On the other hand, in terms of value added, the food and beverage industry has continued to gain weight in industry and the economy, and It has almost double its level of activity in the last thirteen years, rising from 13.7% of the manufacturing industry in 2000 to 22.5% in 2013.

+info:

• Indicators MAGRAMA: http://www.magrama.gob.es/es/alimentacion/temas/industria-agroalimentaria/informacion-economica-sobre-la-industria-agroalimentaria/