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The wine sector plays a fundamental role in Spain, not only in economic terms due to its contribution to activity, employment and exports but also because of how extensively vines are grown and its regional importance, making it a driving force for environmental conservation and rural development. Spain is the world’s second largest exporter of wine in volume and third in value, although in recent years we have seen greater penetration in North America and Asia, markets that tend to buy wine of higher value. After the COVID-19 crisis, wineries and cooperatives must tackle important medium-term challenges and adapt to the new consumption habits of a younger, more digital and environmentally aware public. This strategy includes a commitment to organic farming, online sales and wine tourism.

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.

The Spanish economy is continuing to outperform expectations in 2025, with strong, balanced growth driven by investment and private consumption. This buoyancy is also evident in its sectors of activity: of the 22 sectors analysed in this report, 16 are undergoing an expansionary phase in 2025, compared to only 2 in 2023. The greatest momentum can be seen in industry, where growth is being led by the extractive, chemical, pharmaceutical and refining industries, thanks to high investment, productivity gains and adaptation to the energy transition. Construction and real estate activities are also performing strongly, boosted by residential demand. Although some sectors, such as the textile and wood industries, are facing structural challenges, the economy as a whole is moving towards a more sustainable and diversified growth phase. This climate, marked by a healthy labour market, lower interest rates and stimulus from EU funds, is strengthening the resilience of the Spanish economy in a global environment that is fraught with challenges.

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.

Made in Spain, Made in the USA and even Made in China labels make less and less sense in today’s world. Since firms decided to fragment their production processes and move them to other countries, the label Made in the World probably better represents the nature of most of the manufactured goods we consume. In this article we review the past, present and future of global value chains at a time when pandemic-induced restrictions on travel and supply disruptions have brought them back into the spotlight.

The pharmaceutical industry is a key and strategic sector for Spain’s economy, as was clearly demonstrated by the pandemic. In the past 25 years, the sector has become hugely significant and an important driver of Spanish exports and private R&D investment. Nevertheless, its production capacity still has room for improvement. The future of Spanish industry should be more closely linked to the pharmaceutical sector with a commitment to promote its growth, not only for strategic purposes but also for purely economic reasons, since it is an extremely competitive industry with a great capacity to generate good quality jobs that would help to modernise Spain’s economy.

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.

The spread of the coronavirus throughout the world has come as an unprecedented shock to the global economy. The Spanish economy has been particularly hard hit, partly because of its greater dependence on international tourism. In the second half of the year, we expect the economic recovery to take hold thanks to the easing of social distancing measures and the boost provided by the wide range of fiscal and monetary measures adopted. However, we believe the economy will continue to operate below potential over the next few years.

The Spanish economy is facing 2026 from a strong starting position, supported by the momentum of buoyant growth in 2025, a dynamic labour market, strong domestic demand and relatively contained inflation despite the energy shock. The outbreak of the war in Iran has introduced a new supply shock, increasing uncertainty and forcing us to revise downwards the projected GDP growth for this year to 2.1%, 0.3 pps below the previous forecast. In any case, the intensity of the slowdown is expected to vary depending on the sector. Manufacturing sectors, which are more energy-intensive, outward-facing, and with a weaker cyclical position, will be the most affected. In contrast, services and other activities linked to domestic demand are starting from a more solid position and are less exposed.

2020 will go down in history as the year of COVID but it will also be remembered that, faced by a very difficult situation, the response provided by the food chain was extraordinary, guaranteeing an uninterrupted supply to all Spanish households. A year and a half later, the primary sector still looks remarkably dynamic, although the exceptional growth rates posted during the most critical months of the pandemic have now been left behind.