The Spanish cultural industries continue to have great weight in the national GDP. As has been happening in the last five years, this sector represents 2.4% of the total Gross Domestic Product, according to the 2021 Yearbook of Cultural Statistics of the Ministry of Culture and Sport. This percentage translates into an annual production of 30,171 million euros.
Of them, the multimedia platforms and the audiovisual world, the favorite activities of Spaniards in their leisure time, are also the ones with the highest turnover, a total of 8,608 million. Another great source of income is editorial industry, which, between press and books, invoices 7,518 million euros.
According to the TBS business school in Barcelona, “Cultural industries are crucial economically, but they also provide great social value. In addition, they contribute to an innovative development of Spanish society”.
Radiography of the Spanish cultural industry
The Spanish cultural industries They are usually made up mostly of SMEs. Before the pandemic, the number of companies in the sector rose to 127,581, of which 67% were without employees, that is, freelancers, and 27% have less than five workers, according to Enrique Cerezo, president of the CEOE’s Culture and Sports Commission.
“These data show the type of employment that the cultural sector often generates, which are usually jobs with a very relevant creative weight, such as the production of a film or the writing of a book”, explains Beatriz Marco, communication coordinator for TBS in Barcelona. In addition, the sector does not stop growing and welcomes Barcelona and Madrid as the two nerve centers of the country.
Specifically, the cultural industry in Barcelona, as well as at a national level, is a sector in clear expansion. The data collected before the start of the pandemic puts at 10,158 million euros what the sector generates annually for the city. As for work, occupies 43,535 workers distributed among the 4,675 companies that welcomes Barcelona.
In addition, the county capital has large companies in the cultural sector, since 78 large companies (national and international) are those that produce half of the annual turnover. These companies choose the districts of l’Eixample, Sarrià Sant-Gervasi, Sant Martí and also Gràcia as their place of work in the city.
