That the Spanish regional economies advance at different speeds is no secret. But the convergence between them – and the ranking of the autonomous communities that accelerate the most in GDP per capita growth – has been changing recently. A report published yesterday by the Bank of Spain confirms that Aragón has displaced Catalonia among the most dynamic regions in Europe and places its ability to convert resources into economic growth at a level similar to that of the Community of Madrid and the Basque Country.
Read more “The government should be on the Seat board just like in Germany with VW”
The institution groups the different territories of the State into six convergence clubs depending on whether they follow a similar trajectory and tend to converge towards the same relative level of GDP per capita in the long term. Catalonia is part of the fourth club, along with Galicia, Navarra, La Rioja, Castilla y León, Extremadura, and the Balearic Islands. The third, on the other hand, groups the Community of Madrid, the Basque Country, and Aragón, a community that has gained economic speed in recent years. Andalusia and the Canary Islands are part of the sixth club, the most lagging in their trajectory.
The Fénix Report warns that Aragón will surpass Catalonia in GDP per capita by 2050 if the model does not change
In this study, the organization analyzes these convergence trends in 98 European regions of Germany, France, Italy, and Spain between 1998 and 2025. In fact, among the most advanced territories of the first and second clubs, there is none that is Spanish. The convergence in the trend of the Aragonese economy and the Madrid and Basque economies reinforces one of the theses pointed out by the so-called Fénix Report. This document – coordinated by Xavier Roig and prepared by economists Xavier Cuadras, Modest Guinjoan, and Miquel Puig, with advice from Jordi Galí, Guillem López-Casasnovas, and Jaume Ventura – already warned that the current trajectory of GDP per capita predicted that by 2050 Aragón would surpass Catalonia, which would also be overtaken by other autonomous communities. The study classifies the Catalan economic model as unsustainable because it is based on low productivity sectors and low wages such as tourism or meat processing.
Read more Seat bets its future on achieving a second line of electric cars in Martorell
Among the factors that the Bank of Spain considers to determine the trajectory of economies, depending on whether they are more or less dynamic, human capital stands out, which refers to the percentage of the population with secondary or higher education. It also refers to the stock of physical capital, the set of assets in an economy – from machinery to buildings or infrastructure – that serve to produce goods or guarantee services and have a positive long-term effect. In this regard, the organization points out that regional disparities within Spain are “persistent” and that, in some cases, “have intensified.” “The evidence suggests that the capacity of regions to transform physical and human capital into sustained growth depends on structural characteristics such as, for example, institutional quality or productive structure,” the text argues.
Among the members of club 1, with the highest income, the Bank of Spain mainly places German regions and Île-de-France, where the city of Paris is located. These territories maintain persistently above-average GDP per capita levels and have high endowments of physical and human capital. On the other hand, the second club is made up of more German regions and a single representative from Italy, the autonomous province of Bolzano, located in the southern Tyrol area where 70% of the population speaks German.
Read more Trump promises a $5,000 dividend to every American if the Republicans win the midterms
