The economic impact of the port sector, including direct, indirect, and induced effects, is estimated at 24.304 billion euros 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 Ports of General Interest on the Spanish Economy” conducted by Puertos del Estado and presented today in Madrid. The direct impact of the port sector alone amounts to approximately 10.742 billion euros and over 84,000 jobs. For each euro of value added by the port sector, the economy receives an additional 2.3 euros. Similarly, for each job in the port sector, three additional jobs are generated. The port sector’s annual turnover is about 16 billion euros, accounting for 0.7% of Spain’s total production.
Compared to the previous study in 2008, there is a noticeable increase in productivity and a contribution to the economy that exceeds the growth of the overall economy. This indicates that ports have become more efficient and are growing faster than the average for other economic sectors: the sector’s value added increased by 15%, compared to 10% for the economy as a whole.
Within the 64 sectors into which the Spanish economy can be divided, the port sector ranks 40th in terms of production size, 26th in gross value added, 37th in employment, and is in the top 10 in productivity.
The economic impact of the port sector grows significantly when considering what the study, based on its methodological framework, refers to as the structural dependency of the port sector. In this context, a scenario is simulated where ports hypothetically disappear, estimating the substitution and readjustment costs for other economic sectors (or, in other words, the benefit that the economy gains from having access to the infrastructure and services provided by the port sector, compared to other logistical and/or transport alternatives). The study, which includes all ports of general interest, estimates the economic impact of the port sector’s structural dependency at around 50% of national GDP and total employment, and 60% of Spanish production. This means that in a dynamic scenario where all businesses 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 activity facilitated by ports of general interest on the national economy. It reveals that in 2023, this activity contributed around 6.4 billion euros to production, approximately 3.2 billion to GDP, and around 52,000 jobs directly, indirectly, or induced.
The study by Puertos del Estado includes a Methodological Guide and five application reports on the ports of general interest: the economic impact of the port sector, the economic impact of the port sector’s structural dependency, the economic impact of COVID, the economic impact of cruise tourism, and the economic impact of the blue economy in Spain (to which the ports also contribute and are part of).
The Guide provides a reference framework for conducting this type of economic impact study for ports of general interest, offering a common methodology based on a prior consensus with the main sector stakeholders, which enables more reliable comparisons and is available to Port Authorities, other administrations, and the research and expert community. Through this, Puertos del Estado continues to advance the development of the Strategic Framework for the State-Owned Port System, which aims to promote the creation of these studies using standardized methodologies that allow for comparability of results among different ports.