The Industrial Turnover Index in Andalusia increased by 30.1% year-on-year in August, six points more than in the previous month and almost double that at the national level (17.1%), making six consecutive months of increase. This is the result of the ‘Weekly Economic Observatory of the Andalusian Regional Government’ presented by the Regional Ministry of Economic Transformation, Industry, Knowledge, and Universities to the Governing Council.
In the first eight months of the year, turnover in the industry has increased by 22.6% year-on-year in Andalusia, 5.3 points more than in Spain (17.3%), surpassing the results recorded before the pandemic (January-August 2019).
Turnover in the market services sector in the region grew by 15.7% year-on-year in August, 3.5 points more than in the previous month. In cumulative terms, in the first eight months of the year, there has been a 12.8% year-on-year growth in this parameter in Andalusia. Employment in the sector has increased by 2.9% year-on-year, three-tenths of a percentage point more than at the national level (2.6%), making a total of five months with positive rates. At this point, it should be taken into account that workers affected by an ERTE (temporary lay-off plan) continue to form part of the company’s staff.
According to the Weekly Economic Observatory, exports of goods from Andalusia abroad amounted to 2,391.3 million euros in August, an increase of 39% year-on-year, the sixth consecutive positive rate and fourteen points higher than that observed at the national level (25.1%). In addition, imports increased by 52.2% year-on-year, almost twenty points higher than at the national level (33.9%).
The highest relative growth in both exports and imports corresponded to energy exports, which more than doubled compared to the same month of the previous year (163.7% and 114.5%, respectively), in a context of strong growth in oil prices on international markets (58.2% year-on-year in August). In the first eight months of the year, Andalusia’s exports abroad have reached a value of 22,093 million, making it the third most exporting autonomous community, behind Catalonia and Madrid, and surpassing the pre-pandemic figures (21,990 million between January and August 2019).
On the other hand, the Junta’s report also highlights that tourist activity in hotels has maintained a favourable evolution in September, in a context of fewer restrictions on mobility. Andalusia stands out as the autonomous community with the highest number of establishments open and travellers accommodated, and is the second in terms of overnight stays. In this period, 2,295 hotels were open, which is 12 more than in the previous month and 272 more operational hotels than in the same month in 2020, an increase of 13.4%.
Andalusia also had the highest number of travellers staying in hotels (1,572,812 people in September), which has more than doubled (113.9%) compared to the same month last year. On the other hand, it is the second, after the Balearic Islands, in terms of the number of overnight stays made by the same (4,723,759 overnight stays), with a year-on-year increase of 164.3%. National travellers accounted for 60.7% of these total stays. The figures for travellers and overnight stays by domestic tourists in September in Andalusia exceed the levels recorded in September 2019.
Likewise, the number of foreign affiliates in Andalusia recorded a year-on-year increase of 8.7% in September, more than one point higher than the national average (7.8%), being the eleventh consecutive positive rate, albeit somewhat more moderate than in previous months. As a result, the region had an average of 253,207 foreign affiliates in September, an all-time high for the period.
