During the five-year period from 2016 to 2021 in the Basque Country, the contribution of the different areas of activity to the VAN fluctuated:
• The contribution of the industrial sector fell from 27.35% in 2016 to 26.12% in 2021, but remains significant.
• The service sector increased significantly, from 63.19% to 65.33%, strengthening most of the Basque economy.
• Construction fell from 6.04% to 5.58%, while agriculture remained relatively stable at around 1.6%.
In 2021, industry in the Basque Country generated added value of 21,469.55 million euros, equivalent to 26.12% of the VAN. In Europe, a comparison with certain regions in terms of the contribution of industry shows the following:
• Lombardy is the region with the highest industrial added value, at 88,484.7 million euros.
• Stuttgart, Upper Bavaria and the Île de France also exceeded 50,000 million euros in added value.
• At the bottom end are the Åland islands in Finland and the Ionian islands in Greece, with Ceuta and Melilla in Spain in last place, below 150 million euros.
In terms of trends, industrial added value has fallen considerably in several French regions, such as Franche-Comté, Picardy, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, Burgundy, Limousin, Lorraine and Champagne-Ardennes.
However, there were considerable advances in Eastern Europe, including many regions in Romania and Bulgaria.
The Basque Country falls into the group with modest growth, along with certain regions of Germany, the Netherlands and Spain.