Editor’s Note
This analysis highlights a significant shift in Spain’s economic resilience, driven by the robust growth of non-tourism service exports. Despite recent global crises, this sector has been pivotal in sustaining the country’s internationalization efforts since 2010.
In 2022, non-tourism services accounted for over 56% of service revenues, compared to 40% in 2000. Spain’s share in global sector exchanges stands at 1.6%, versus Germany’s 6%.
Despite the 2008 financial collapse, the pandemic, the energy crisis, and geopolitical tensions taking a toll on the Spanish economy, Spain has not stopped internationalizing since 2010, even amid extreme uncertainty. The main drivers behind this success are non-tourism service exports – such as financial, business, telecommunications and information, construction, and intellectual property services – which have grown more intensely in real terms in recent years than goods or tourism services. In 2022, they accounted for more than half (56.7%) of service revenues, up from 40.2% in 2000, or 49.2% in 2019, according to a report by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Enterprise.
Despite this dynamism, Spain lags behind other European countries in global exchanges, with a 1.6% share compared to Germany’s over 6% and France’s 4.5%. Furthermore, export strength tends to be concentrated in few, larger companies. For Antonio Bonet, President of the Spanish Exporters and Investors Club, this is one of the sector’s problems.
But in a business fabric like Spain’s, with 99.8% being SMEs, there are hidden gems that contribute significantly to good foreign trade results. Pablo López Gil, Director General of the Forum of Renowned Spanish Brands, highlights the role of these firms:
In fact, experts attribute the success of these firms beyond national borders to their competitive capacity and the greater sophistication and differentiation of the services offered. López Gil summarizes it in a few words:
Digitalization and the pull effect of large companies have acted as locomotives. Technological advances have been key for the leap of Altafonte, a Spanish music and technology firm that works with record labels and artists like Julieta Venegas, Mónica Naranjo, and David Otero, placing their music in stores and digital platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, Amazon, Instagram, and TikTok. The firm, which has 110 employees, receives income from 170 countries, although its main markets are Europe, the US, and Latin America. With an annual turnover of 50 million dollars (46.5 million euros at the current exchange rate), Spain represents 24%, while 76% of income comes from abroad.
From the beginning, they knew their creation would surpass Spain’s confines, thanks to the common language and strong ties with America.
The founders recall that every time a song is listened to anywhere in the world and through any platform, artists receive royalties. Altafonte manages hundreds of millions of uses, generating micro-incomes. Furthermore, they offer music synchronization in films, advertising, or series, like Money Heist (La Casa de Papel), with millions of listens worldwide, and marketing strategies for artists.
The push of digitalization has led to an increase in demand for non-tourism services in different sectors. Looking at total revenues for 2022, high-value-added business services – which include those related to business administration consulting, R&D, architecture, engineering, and scientific technicians – were the most requested (36%), followed by transport (24%) and telecommunications, computing, and information (17%), according to the Bank of Spain’s report on the evaluation of Spanish non-tourism service exports.