The Spanish port sector generates an economic impact of €24.3 billion and 250,000 jobs

• Puertos del Estado prepares a comprehensive study on the economic impact of general-interest ports on the Spanish economy, including a methodological guide and five reports on the results.
• Concerning cruise activity facilitated by ports, the study reveals a contribution of €3.2 billion to the economy and around 52,000 jobs.

08-11-2024 (Puertos del Estado). The economic impact of the port sector, including direct, indirect, and induced effects, amounts to €24.3 billion and 250,000 jobs, representing approximately 2.2% of GDP and 1.4% of total employment in the economy, according to the “Study on the Economic Impact of General-Interest Ports on the Spanish Economy,” conducted by Puertos del Estado and presented today in Madrid. The direct effect alone of the port sector is around €10.7 billion and over 84,000 jobs. For every euro of added value from the port sector, the economy receives an additional €2.3, and for every job in the port sector, three additional jobs are created. Additionally, the port sector's annual turnover is estimated at about €16 billion, accounting for 0.7% of total Spanish production.

Compared to the last study, which referred to 2008, there is a significant increase in productivity and a greater contribution to the economy, exceeding the growth of the economy itself. In other words, ports have gained efficiency and are growing faster than the average of other economic sectors: the sector's added value grew by 15%, compared to the global growth of 10%.

Among the 64 sectors into which the Spanish economy can be divided, the port sector ranks 40th in production size, 26th in gross value added, 37th in employment, and is in the top 10 for productivity.

The economic impact of the port sector significantly increases when considering what, according to the developed methodological proposal, is termed the structural dependency of the port sector. In this context, a hypothetical scenario of the ports’ disappearance is simulated, estimating the substitution and adjustment costs for other economic sectors (or, in other words, the benefit the economy gains from the availability of infrastructure and services offered by the port sector, as opposed to alternative logistical and/or transport solutions). In the study, which includes all general-interest ports, the economic impact of the port sector's structural dependency is estimated at around 50% of national GDP and total employment, and 60% of Spanish production. In other words, in a dynamic scenario where all companies would have to adjust their production due to the disappearance of all ports, half of the Spanish economy would be affected.

The study also analyzed the economic impact of cruise activities facilitated by general-interest ports on the national economy. The report reveals that in 2023, this activity contributed directly, indirectly, or induced, €6.4 billion to production, approximately €3.2 billion to GDP, and around 52,000 jobs.

The study developed by Puertos del Estado includes a Methodological Guide and five application reports related to the entire general-interest port system: economic impact of the port sector, economic impact of the structural dependency of the port sector, economic impact of COVID, economic impact of the cruise tourism sector, and economic impact of the blue economy in Spain (to which ports contribute and are also a part).

The Guide represents a reference framework for carrying out this type of economic impact study in general-interest ports, as it includes a common methodology supported by prior consensus work with key sector stakeholders, allowing for more reliable comparisons and available to Port Authorities, other administrations, the research community, and experts. With this, Puertos del Estado continues advancing the development of the Strategic Framework for the State-Owned Port System, which includes among its objectives the promotion of these studies through standardized methodologies that allow for comparable results across various ports.