The OECD data has been putting the red lantern to Spanish productivity decades. However, that perception does not Low productivity in Spain It does not fully adjust to the reality that reflect the Recent OECD reports.
Such and as they highlight in The confidentialalthough the global data show a very discreet increase, companies of between 10 and 250 workers exceed productivity to the average of their peers in the OECD. However, the big problem is that 95.1% of Spanish business fabric is made up of SMEs with between 0 and 10 employees.
What the OECD says about Spain. The OECD, in Your productivity report Of 2024, it evidences that the average annual growth of the hour per hour worked in Spain has been 0.5% per year, while the OECD as a whole has registered an average of 1.2%. That places the country clearly below the average of the Club of developed economies.
Despite this scenario, a BBVA Foundation Analysis On the evolution of the total productivity of the factors (PTF), which combines the productivity of labor and capital to leave a photo closer to the reality of companies, says a growth of 0.9% interannual of this parameter. Which reinforces the conclusions of the OECD on the growth of productivity in Spain, which is like the Second country with greater growth of productivity in the last two decades.
However, beyond the global data of Spain, the graphics of the OECD productivity study value the largest companies already medium -sized as a productivity engine in Spain. Thus, the OECD evidence that the mismatch in productivity is not so much between Spain and Europe as a whole, but among the different company sizes within the country itself.
Total productivity of the factors (PTF) by country. Source: Productivity Council of Spain
Microenterprises: many and unproductive. As recognized From the report From the Productivity Council in Spain, the most relevant feature of the Spanish productive fabric is that 95.1% of Spanish companies have less than ten employees, confirming that microenterprise is the standard in Spain, not the exception. According to the OECD dataSpanish microenterprises generated in 2023 an added value of $ 56,990 per worker, compared to $ 108,356 per employee generated by large companies. That means that large companies are 90% more productive than SMEs.
The productivity of microenterprises is 15.3% below the OECD average and represents one of the main ballasts for the national average. He OECD diagnosis On microenterprises it is clear: having many very small companies limits the Productivity improvements and investment capacity.
Medium companies approve with note. The highlight of the international comparative analysis is that, according to the OECD, “Spanish medium -sized companies have a productivity higher than the EU average, standing above the other advanced countries in their category.”
In percentage terms, Spanish companies of 10 to 49 employees are 8.7% more productive than the OECD average; those of 50 to 250 employees 9.1% and those of more than 250 employees 5.2%. In other words, only 4.9% of companies in Spain would be above the OECD average, occupying avant -garde positions in terms of competitiveness in markets International
The challenge: increase size and investment. The recipe that the OECD gives to Improve productivity Of these microenterprises it is clear, but it is not simple to apply: it is necessary to seek improvements in productivity through Investment and innovationimproving the value added by employee so that the business fabric gains size.
According to 2023 dataSpain is at the tail in investment in machinery, ICT assets and i+d. Precisely, a Report of the Bank of Spain He pointed to productive investment as the key to business growth. The report emphasizes that private business investment had not managed to recover prepondondemic levels, while public investment in this area had recovered and grew at a good pace.
Image | Unspash (Sherman Yang) We believed that in Spain we were not productive, but medium and large companies exceed the OECD average. That is the problem
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