Galicia’s industrial fortunes emerged unscathed and strengthened after the pandemic

Galicia’s industrial fortunes emerged strengthened from the health crisis in 2020 and are consolidating their growth with revenues almost close to the record marks set by the main manufacturing sectors in 2019, before the pandemic swept everything away. This is confirmed by the progress of the Ardán Report 2023 (with data from the financial year 2021), prepared from business and employment data reported by the first 20,000 companies in the community, which also shows how the productive tissue managed to recover from the blow in record time, emerging virtually immune and strengthenedespecially the textile, motor, fishing and food sectors.

The bar was set high because in 2019 all analyzed companies added an unprecedented volume of business, even better than in the golden years before the brick crisis: 109,113 million euros. In 2020, however, the restriction and closure of borders caused by covid took its toll, so turnover fell to 91.931 million euros, which represents a decrease of almost 16%. But one year was enough for the industrial fabric to continue its recovery path, reaching 108.789 million euros of turnover in 2021.remaining just over 300 million short of the 2019 record, as shown in the Ardán 2023 preview.

record employment

From this database, which the companies themselves revised and reported to the study service of the Vigo Free Zone Consortium, another positive conclusion can be drawn about employment, which has not only recovered, but also in 2021, reached 404,528 active workersabove the 390,092 registered the year before the pandemic (in 2020, the workforce was reduced to 378,939 jobs).

In the analysis by companies, the first positions in 2021 do not vary. Inditex maintains its leadership as the first industry in Galicia by turnover (11.129 million), followed by Peugeot Citroën Automóviles España, the company name of the automotive group stellantis (7.236 million). Both increased their revenues compared to the previous analyzed year.

The textile group and a dozen of its subsidiaries based in Arteix, in addition Pontegadeainvestment branch Amancio Ortegaamong other companies, continues to flow towards the province A Coruña, the industrial wealth of Galicia, home to 58 of the 100 largest companies in the community in Ardán 2023. In addition to Inditex and its brands, groups such as Galaica Metallurgical (Megasa), with almost 1,500 million collected; food groups Vego and Gadiša, also about one billion euros; or timber Finnsover 800 million euros of business. sons of Rivera or Rianxeira in a canthey also sneak into the top of the table with more than 500 million euros of business.

ill-distributed wealth

Pontevedra concentrates 28 of the first hundred Galician companies, most of which are located in the Vigo area, and are associated more with fishing and food than with automobiles, a sector in which it excels dalphimetalwith 400 million businesses, and at a distance, Thick, GKN or Benteler, which range between 100 and 200 million. But they are ahead freeze, with 727 million; and fishing groups Nueva Pescanova, Iberconsa or Profandwhich range between 600 and 300 million (always with data from 2021).

Lactalis, appears as the first company based in Lugo in terms of sales volume, with 434 million; followed at a distance by Perfumeries Arenal, with HRK 160 million. The province of Lugo places six companies in the top hundred, and Ourense only two more. Among the leading companies in Ourense by turnover, two stand out in the food sector: the group Koran, with its various subsidiaries, over 1,000 million; or Oils of Aprilaround 400 million euros.

Companies with a larger volume of business and which provide greater added value

20,000 companies analyzed by the Ardán de study groupl Vigo Free Zone Consortium they all have in common that their turnover exceeds one million euros; and together they contributed to the increase in turnover achieved in 2021, according to the latest recently published database. With an average of 5.1 million euros more billing, a figure distorted by the bulky figures of Inditex and the automotive group Stellantis.

but also, Good financial results translate into greater generation of wealth in the Galician community. The added value of the driver of the Galician economy has practically stagnated in recent years at around 22,000 million euros recorded in Ardán in 2022 (one million up, one million down). The balance of 2023 raises that amount to 25,800 million euros of gross added value generated by the main companies, with textile companies at the forefront; followed by the automotive sector, the agricultural and food sector; financial activities and real estate transactions; and logistics and transport.

The greatest economic return, however, is not in these large sectors but, according to the report, appears in logistics and transport, led by gestrbus, with headquarters in Lugo, and a profitability index of 2,700%. Next on this ranking of the most profitable companies is the company from the tourism sector Estrella del boiro sea, with an index of almost 300%; followed by two companies based in Oleiros (A Coruña): that is hastoplay, dedicated to computer services; and Unit for minimally invasive thoracic surgerywith almost 200% profitability each.