Macroeconomics and Agricultural Trade in Spain

The Kingdom of Spain has been a parliamentary constitutional monarchy with democratic elections since 1975 and a member of the European Union since 1986. Furthermore, Spain is made up of 17 autonomous regions and 2 autonomous cities for a total territory of 505.370 square kilometers, which is somewhat larger than twice the state of Oregon. Likewise, Spain is the second largest country of the EU, after France, and is marked by its temperate, yet seasonal climate. Geographically, Spain is dominated mostly by a flat plateau with hills and mountains throughout the north as well as 4.964 kilometers of both Atlantic and Mediterranean coastline.

Macroeconomics and Agricultural Trade in Spain

Today, Spain has a total population of approximately 49 million citizens, which makes it the fifth most populous EU country after Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and Italy. About 80% of Spaniards live in an urban setting, notably the capital city of Madrid with 6.2 million inhabitants as well as the city of Barcelona with 5.3 million. Meanwhile, the median age in Spain is 43 years old. In economic terms, Spain has a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of almost US$1.8 trillion (in terms of purchasing power parity, PPP), which is divided into 3% agriculture, 23% manufacturing, and 74% services. Furthermore, the national economy has experienced positive economic growth upwards of 3.0% in recent years. Similarly, it is estimated that the agricultural industry employs 4% of the national labor force, while manufacturing employs 24% and services employ another 72%. In Spain, the agriculture industry utilizes 54% of the national territory, while another 37% is forested.

In terms of natural resources, Spain has coal, lignite, iron ore, copper, lead, zinc, uranium, tungsten, mercury, pyrites, gypsum, potash, hydropower, and arable land. Within manufacturing, the national industry is focused on textiles, footwear, food & beverages, metals, chemicals, shipbuilding, automobiles, machinery, pharmaceuticals, and medical equipment. Simultaneously, the country’s agricultural industry has as main products grain, vegetables, olives, wine grapes, sugar beets, citrus, beef, pork, poultry, dairy products, and fish. In terms of trade, during 2016, Spain imported US$299 billion worth of goods and exported US$275 billion, resulting in a trade deficit of US$24 billion. Furthermore, Spain’s main export, representing 13% or US$35.5 billion of the country’s total in 2016, were cars. Likewise, the country’s main import that same year, representing 6.3% or US$18.7 billion of all international purchases, was crude petroleum. Lastly, Spain’s main trading partners are fellow EU members, notably Germany, France, Italy, Portugal, and the United Kingdom, as well as China.

In recent years, the average per capita protein intake of animal origin amongst the Spanish population has been approximately 65 grams daily. Simultaneously, land distribution in Spain has evolved throughout the last half century. Back in 1961, arable land in the country covered 16.246 hectares, while permanent pastures and meadows represented 12.500 hectares and permanent crops accounted for 4.484 hectares. More recently, by 2015, arable land had increased to 12.338 hectares, while permanent pastures and meadows represented 9.232 hectares and permanent crops covered 4.696 hectares.

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