Structural Business Statistics in the Industrial Sector. 2021
In 2021, the turnover of industrial companies in Catalonia was 155,448 million euros, which means an increase of 18.7% compared to one year ago. In the same period, the number of people employed in companies in this sector increased by 2.9%, and the added value at market prices by 14.2%.
The industrial groupings that stood out for their turnover are the industries of food products, with 28,947 million euros (18.6% of total industry), the chemical industries, with 21,651 million euros (13.9%), and the electricity and gas production and supply, with 16,455 million euros (10.6%). The only industrial grouping to show a decrease in turnover compared to the previous year is the manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers, which had a decrease of 2.0% (with a turnover of 14,435 million euros) and represents 9.3% of total industry.
In terms of the geographical destination of sales, 34.6% of the sector's sales went abroad (21.7% to European Union countries and 12.9% to the rest of the world). The most outstanding groupings in terms of sales abroad were the manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers, with 19.1% of total industrial sales abroad; the chemical industries, with 17.5%, and the industries of food products, with 15.7%.
All these magnitudes place the apparent productivity per employee in the industrial sector at 72,276 euros (11.2% more than the previous year).
The reference year 2021 implements several methodological improvements, in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 of the European Parliament and of the Council, of 27 November 2019, on European business statistics (EBS regulation), and with Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1197, of 30 July 2020. These improvements affect the Structural Business Statistics. In the case of the industrial sector, the main change is the specification of which institutional sectors are covered by the Statistics, focusing on market-producing units, and financial institutions (despite being market producers) and the institutional sectors of public administrations and non-profit institutions serving households are explicitly left out of the research scope. One of the most affected groupings is water supply, sewerage and waste management and its associated branches, and, consequently, from 2021 onwards the results are not strictly comparable with those of previous years. Nevertheless, the economic variables of the industry sector as a whole are hardly affected by this change.