Industrial turnover fell 1.9% in 2023 after two years of double-digit growth

The Spanish industry closed last year with a drop in average turnover of 1.9%, which ends a cycle of strong increases in the previous two years, according to figures published this Wednesday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE). After growing 20.7% in 2022 and 16.2% in 2021, industrial business figures fell into negative territory in April and have been in the red for nine months since then. At the end of 2023, the average annual variation corrected for seasonal effects marked a decrease of 1.6%.

In the last month of the year, the drop was 8.7% in the original INE series, the largest monthly decrease in nearly three years, which adjusted for seasonal and calendar effects stood at 4.4%. Despite the average decline, the manufacturing of electronic components increased its turnover by 15% in the year, while shipbuilding, railway and aeronautical construction grew by 13.3% and the manufacturing of consumer electronics, optical instruments and photographic equipment by 12%.

On the other hand, coke plants and oil refining led the declines, with a drop of 20.2%, while the chemical industry fell 18.7% and metallurgy 17.3%. By geographical destination of sales, all markets present negative annual rates: turnover in the domestic market decreased by 8%, in the euro zone by 11.4% and outside the eurozone by 4.1%.

Billing in the energy sector closed 2023 with an average drop of 19.5%, according to the latest data from the INE, once the variations by calendar and season are taken into account, after having rebounded by 80% during 2022. The figures for the years 2021 and 2022 had corrected the drastic collapse in industrial activity during the first year of the coronavirus pandemic, when the average Spanish turnover lost 11.7%. Services had also slowed down in 2020, 15.6%, due to the almost total stoppage of the sector, especially in the hospitality industry, forced to close completely for months due to the health crisis. In December 2023, the year-on-year variation in hospitality turnover rose by 10.4%, with accommodation services improving by 12% and food and beverage services by 9.8%.

By autonomous community, the Canary Islands recorded the largest increase in industrial turnover in 2023, with an average of 7.6%, while Asturias registered the sharpest decline, with a drop of 10.7%. In total, industrial turnover decreased in eight autonomous communities: Murcia lost 9.5%; Cantabria, 8.3%; the Valencian Community, 6.3%; Andalusia, 7.3%; Aragon, 4%; Galicia, 2.9%, and the Balearic Islands, 2.1%. However, it rose 3.4% in La Rioja; in the Community of Madrid, 3%; in Castilla y León, 2.9%, and in the Basque Country, 1.6%. It also advanced in Navarra, 1.5%; Castilla-La Mancha, 1.4%; Catalonia, 0.9%, and Extremadura, 0.5%.

Third positive year in the services sector

For its part, The services sector registered an average increase in its turnover of 2.4% in 2023, thus chaining its third consecutive year of increase in sales, according to data released this Wednesday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE). However, the rebound in 2023 has been lower than that achieved in 2022, when the largest increase in the series was achieved, of almost 20%, and is also below the 15.8% growth experienced in 2021. Employment created by the services sector registered an average increase of 1.9% last year, two points less than in 2022.

Despite this, Employment in the sector is also chaining three years of rebounds after the disaster it suffered in 2020 due to the outbreak of Covid with a drop of 4.3%. Corrected for seasonal and calendar effects, billing for services rose 2.7% in 2023 as a whole, after sales increased by 0.8% in commerce and 6.6% in other services.

In December 2023, The turnover of services (without correcting for seasonal and calendar effects) fell by 0.7% compared to the same month in 2022, rate 1.2 points lower than that of November. In monthly rate (December 2023 over November of the same year), the billing of services, eliminating the seasonal and calendar effect, fell by 0.1%, in contrast to the monthly advance of 1% registered in November.