The macro-economic indices for the Basque Country are top flight in Europe. Our economy is industrial and exporting, generating a lot of wealth. In addition, RTD investment was strengthened over the last few years before the recession. This contrasts with the fact that in this situation, RTD investment tends to cut back although it is well-known to be one of the mainstays to overcome the recession by creating jobs with a future. *(Note)
People have been criticising the standard way of measuring economic deployment in a country as long as it has been measured. Are we trying to measure generated wealth or social distribution? Are we measuring growth or wellbeing? Without getting into a debate on these matters, finding out about the Basque Country's macro-economic indices according to the indicators in use in the international environment, comparing us with other European countries, we might conclude that our country has top flight macro-economic indices.
Highly industrial GDP
The GDP per capita in the Basque Country is (31,030€) similar to Germany (30,300€) and Denmark (31,500€), taking 9th place in the European ranking.
In addition, the Gross Added Value of industry is 24.3%, putting us among the most industrialised countries (Norway 35.1; Czech Republic 29.3; Ireland 25.9; Germany 23.8, etc.).
On the other hand, it stands out that productivity per employee is one of the highest, taking 6th place between Belgium (73,343€) and France (69,265€). We are preceded by Norway (94,416€) and Ireland (80,970€). In addition, we are followed by Austria (67,067€), the Netherlands (66,651€) or Germany (63,615€), among others.
In consonance with these elements, available income per active person (38,963€) is one of the highest in Europe, similar to Austria (38,889€), exceeding Germany (36,985€) and Finland (35,043€) whilst behind Norway (42,815€) or France (42,012€).
RTD and business investment
Business investment is one of the highest among European countries, reaching 26.3 of GDP. Countries such as Rumania (25.97), Czech Republic (23.88) or Slovakia (23.09) have similar levels, far from other benchmark countries (Finland 19.63; Norway 19.52, etc.).
In addition, RTD investment in relation to GDP is a little lower than the European average (2.03), far behind the effort made in this field by Finland (3.78), Sweden (3.37), Denmark (3.09) or Germany (2.84).
Exporting economy
In relation to GDP, our exports reach 30.10, a similar rate to the United Kingdom (31.9), Italy (30.0) or France (28.0) and imports stand at 21.90. Therefore, our foreign trade balance is 8.21 points in the black. In this way, we take sixth place in the ranking, similar to Iceland (7.8) and the Netherlands (9.8).
Note: This text aims to provide information and make it easier to read the data being presented. The text has been written by the Gaindegia technical team. It does not aim to reflect Udalbiltza's opinion.
