Alicante can’t keep up with the most dynamic Spanish provinces. Although the situation of the global local economy has improved significantly since the start of the economic recovery in 2015, the reality is that in many indicators, such as exports or hotel overnight volume, Alicante lost weight in the national group, which is a clear indication of less competitiveness.
This was announced by the president on Thursday. Alicante State Institute of Economic Research (Cow), Nacho AmirolaIn the presentation of the Socioeconomic Status Report corresponding to the third quarter of 2022, a comparison of the development of the last eight years was also presented.
“The economy of the province of Alicante, slow growth. Social indicators such as membership and employment have improved significantly, approaching the parameters before the 2008 financial crisis, but our productive activity has not risen yet and if we add the cut from the Tajo-Segura transfer, our competition is losing strength“, Amirola pointed.”We’re moving forward, yes, but very slowly“The Ineca president insisted, pointing out that the province was incapable of “following the growth path of other more dynamic regions in Spain,” such as Valencia, Malaga, Guipúzcoa or Pontevedra.
The clearest example of this is exportAs Francisco Llopis, Director of Studies at the Alicante ‘think tank’ points out. Although it is quite positive that the companies in the province increased their overseas sales by 15.25% in the third quarter of the year, the reality is that the figure remains below the 24.4% increase recorded throughout the country. An uneven growth in the national group translated into lower weight of shipments from Alicante.
In particular, export from Alicante They concentrated only 1.8% of Spanish foreign trade – A figure far from the population weight of around 4% – representing a decrease compared to the same period of the previous year, which was 1.94%.
Worse, comparison hotel stays of the last eight years. then Malaga 570,000 more stays were registered between January and September than in 2015, and Valencia the increase was 1,159,000 – in both cases allowing them to increase their market share in the national set -, Alicante recorded approximately 783,000 fewer overnight stays, According to Ineca data.
Likewise, also construction of new houses It is growing in these two provinces and decreasing in Alicante, despite the enormous dynamism of sales in the region, which is concentrated in the second hand.
These two rapid evolutions, existing accounts. Thus, the volume of deposits that Alicantes hold at the bank has increased by more than 20%—a significant figure—in the last eight years, once again far from the 40% increase recorded in Malaga and Pontevedra. or 52.9% of Valencia.
It is also an accompanying trend Significant decline in credit – The outstanding balance of outstanding loans in Alicante decreased by 28.5% in this period, while it grew by double digits in the most dynamic provinces where the study was compared.
Although there are many factors that support this situation, Nacho Amirola, state and regional investments they help stabilize the region and support projects that transform the environment. Yes, the Ineca president, who was shown up against all odds, said, “We all have in our minds the changes these states have gone through in the last two decades. Now think about the changes our state went through in those years.” “Moderately optimistic” for 2023.
covid bill
On the other hand, the Ineca Socioeconomic Status Report also includes the update of the provincial GDP data for 2020, which has just published the pandemic figures, carried out by INE. An exercise in Alicante lost 9% of his wealtha (compared to a national decline of 10.2%), which is 3,353 million euros.
The decrease had a greater impact on GDP per capita, where it rose to -9.8% (-10.7% in all of Spain), which 17.999 Euro individual income, Compared to 19,944 in 2019. Of course, despite this setback, the province has moved up one notch in the national rankings, currently ranking 43rd.
Regarding the data for the third quarter, Quino Palací, coordinator of the Studies Committee, pointed out that despite the improvement in the figures, the Alicante labor market is still not able to absorb a significant number of unemployed. The unemployment rate in the province is above the national average. “If the labor market of the province cannot take over the workers, we have a big structural problem.‘, Palací stressed.