The publication of the latest agricultural census by Spain’s National Statistics Institute, corresponding to 2020, not only allows us to describe exhaustively how the Spanish agricultural sector has evolved in recent decades in supply terms but also to detect any structural changes and predict new trends, strengths and weaknesses. The typical farm is still characterised by being small, economically modest and run primarily by a relatively older male, with little generational renewal, one of the major handicaps facing the sector. However, successive censuses reveal a gradual process of increased concentration among farms, which are becoming larger and more productive, as well as a greater presence of women in the sector.

The war in Ukraine has fuelled fears of shortages of certain essential inputs for the agrifood sector, as Russia and Ukraine are major players in the global supply of cereals, oils and fertilisers, among other commodities. It is therefore not surprising that, following the outbreak of the conflict, the prices of agricultural commodities rose sharply on international markets. This price hike has been passed on to the production costs of Spain’s agricultural sector, a net importer of fertilisers and animal feed, and is also having an impact on the food prices paid by end consumers. Nevertheless, the most recent developments (agreements to release part of the grain retained in the Black Sea and good harvests in other producing countries) have helped to stabilise agricultural prices and reduce the risk of a global food crisis.

The agrifood sector continues to suffer from the sharp rise in production costs and the impact of the drought. However, the decline in agricultural commodity and energy prices on international markets from the peaks reached in 2022 should help contain agricultural production costs and thereby moderate inflationary pressures on food. Nevertheless, the severe drought that has been affecting the Iberian Peninsula since last year has reduced the yields of a large number of crops such as cereals and fruits, impacting both prices (up) and the volume of exports (down). All in all, in value terms agrifood exports continued to grow at a good rate in S1 2023 due to the rise in prices, reflecting the high competitiveness of Spain’s agrifood sector despite the adverse conditions.

The food price rally has begun to slow, but the cumulative increase since 2019 is significant and expenditure on food now represents a higher percentage of Spanish households’ consumption. The decline in agricultural and energy commodity prices in the international markets relative to their peaks reached in 2022 should help to contain agricultural production costs and thus to further ease the inflationary pressures on food over the coming quarters.

Extreme drought and rising costs have created a perfect storm that has nonetheless failed to dampen the high spirits of Spain’s agrifood exports in recent years. The decline in the volume of exports experienced by the sector, offset by the increase in prices, is the result of an adverse situation but the various competitiveness indicators look resilient and global market shares are still behaving very favourably. Even so, the sector must continue to invest in order to ensure its production becomes even more digitised, sustainable and competitive, a mission of vital importance given the huge challenge posed by climate change for the country.

The outlook for the Spanish economy as a whole is highly dependent on the trends in inflationary pressures, especially those related to energy. The primary sector was already suffering from rising production costs and the war in Ukraine has merely aggravated the situation.

This winter’s drought has highlighted one of the most important challenges facing Spain’s agrifood sector: improving how water resources are used given the prospect of their availability becoming more limited.

Climate change and the struggle to prevent it pose enormous challenges for agrifood production in Spain. In turn, improving the sustainability and resilience of the sector will be key to achieving the environmental targets set out in the European Green Deal. Agri-environmental indicators show that, despite some progress in recent years, the sector needs to tackle significant aspects, such as reducing the use of chemical pesticides, fertilisers and antimicrobials in agriculture, as well as improving animal health and welfare, increasing efficiency in the use of energy and water resources, promoting food consumption that is more sustainable and healthier and reducing food loss and waste, fostering a circular economy. The new CAP, with eco-schemes as its key measure, and the Next Generation EU funds will support the sector’s green and digital transition.

In recent years, rural tourism has become increasingly important in Spain, opening up new avenues to diversify the sources of income for rural economies. In this article, based on internal CaixaBank data, we look at the upturn in the sector after the COVID-19 pandemic and its implications for the economic resilience of rural Spain and for the tourism industry, given its high level of sustainability both from the point of view of its impact on the environment and its greater geographic diversification and more limited seasonality compared to other, more traditional forms of tourism such as sun, sea and sand destinations.

The Spanish agrifood sector has begun to recover after two years of decline, thanks to the moderation of production costs and the easing of the drought. However, the effects of both of these shocks still persist and the sector continues to face major challenges that are limiting its structural growth capacity.

Los indicadores muestran que el ritmo de crecimiento del sector turístico español se está normalizando tras los excepcionales registros de 2022-2024, impulsados por la recuperación pospandemia y el consiguiente repunte del consumo de servicios. Las tendencias observadas a finales de 2024 se prolongan en 2025: el sector mantiene su atractivo para un creciente número de turistas internacionales, mientras que el turista residente pierde presencia en los destinos locales y gana protagonismo en el extranjero. Aun así, este año el sector volverá a ser clave para la economía española. Según nuestras previsiones, el PIB turístico crecerá un 2,7%, gracias al sólido arranque de año, al aumento de la renta disponible de las familias, a la reactivación de algunas economías europeas y a la moderación de la inflación turística. 

The olive oil industry is a deeply-rooted, traditional sector in Spain, is one of the most important in the country’s agricultural sector and plays a fundamental role from an economic, environmental, cultural and gastronomic point of view. In addition to being a source of income and employment in many rural areas, it also contributes towards territorial and social cohesion and the fight against depopulation, soil erosion and climate change.

Activity in Spain’s agrifood sector is increasing at a faster rate than across the economy as a whole and the outlook for the 2024-2025 campaign is encouraging. Exports are holding up well in the adverse environment of recent years and the food price rally has begun to slow, although the cumulative increase since 2019 remains significant.

Rising production costs as a result of the war in Ukraine are affecting all the links in the food chain: production, processing, distribution and transport, although the primary sector has been particularly hard hit, also adversely affected by unfavourable weather conditions in the form of drought. Rising costs are being passed on to the food prices paid by end consumers, pushing up spending on food, particularly among lower-income households. The most positive note comes from the external sector: agrifood exports have continued to grow strongly in 2022 and competitiveness indicators do not seem to have worsened in spite of the price hikes.

The outbreak of war in Ukraine has overshadowed the positive outlook we were forecasting for the Spanish economy in 2022. While, at the end of last year, some factors had already appeared on the scene that hindered the economic recovery, the armed conflict in Ukraine has become the main focus of attention and the major conditioning factor for short-term economic developments.