About Catalonia municipalities - With extra than 7.5 million inhabitants, the Autonomous Region of Catalonia is the second maximum populous location in Spain, representing 16% of its overall populace. Catalonia is the primary contributor to the Spanish economic system with almost 19% of Spain’s GDP. The GDP in keeping with capita is better than the European Union average (EU-27).

The engine of Catalonia’s development is Barcelona, which has transformed itself from a declining commercial city right into a global gateway and considered one of Europe’s centres for layout and biotechnology. Barcelona is a magnet for college students, researchers and artists from Europe and abroad, with direct effect at the regional financial system.

Catalonia has a various economic system. Manufacturing and market-associated manufacturing offerings account for greater than half of of the region’s employment and GVA.

Sixty six.8% of employment is inside the tertiary sector, 26% in manufacturing, 10.2% in construction and 2.2% in agriculture. Small and medium-sized firms (SMEs) dominate the regional economy.

Catalonia municipalities

Productivity (GDP consistent with worker) for Catalonia, like Spain standard, has been slipping relative to the rest of the OECD, decreasing from a hundred and fifteen% of the OECD average in 1995 to best ninety one% with the aid of 2005.

This has been because of the growth of a less knowledgeable and decrease skilled team of workers, and the lack of ability of companies in foremost Catalan industries to move up the price chain via product innovation.

Almost two-thirds of manufacturing employment is in medium- low or low-generation industries.

Catalonia’s production base is increasingly more confronted with the pressures of worldwide opposition and industrial relocation.

Since 2007, Spain has been seriously stricken by the global monetary disaster. It has the second maximum unemployment charge inside the EU at 20.Four% in the 0.33 area of 2010. Youth unemployment reached forty three.5% in the end of 2009, an boom of 24.7 percentage points because the quit of 2007.

Catalonia municipalities unemployment

Unemployment in Catalonia is approximately sixteen.53%, maximum among the young underneath 24 years (forty one.2%) and those with low abilties.

While educational attainment ranges have improved in Catalonia inside the two last many years, a massive percentage of population has low competencies and 9.6% of the populace is illiterate or without education.

To put together for the put up-disaster economy, Catalonia and its universities and different tertiary education establishments in nearby development want to address the following demanding situations:

• How to create jobs, address unemployment and enhance the power of the populace to face speedy changes inside the labour market? How to enhance the relevance and fine of training?
• How to convert the economic system via upgrading set up industries and building new market opportunities? How to bolster and diversify the existing industries and improve the absorptive capacity of the SME-primarily based economy?
• How to cope with the socio-monetary gaps, needs of the diverse populace with a massive wide variety of immigrants and a developing wide variety of growing older residents?
• How to reform the governance and control to unharness the potential of universities for neighborhood regional improvement and more performance and productivity?

Catalonia municipalities productivity

In order to shrink unemployment and to enhance productivity, Catalonia wishes to foster human capital improvement for brand new and changing jobs. There is a need to stability the current strong awareness on expertise attraction with nurturing talent at home and by using enhancing the get right of entry to of new immigrants to tertiary schooling. Catalonia and its universities want to view process creation as a key aim for innovation and adopt a extensive innovation concept beyond technology push. At the nearby and institutional degree stronger incentives for local engagement will be supplied through performance-based totally funding and “challenge-pushed” competitive calls.

There is likewise a need to screen the fee of return and effectiveness of public funding in research and innovation. Finally, to unharness the whole ability of universities in regional and neighborhood development, it's miles vital reform the college governance in Spain, by using strengthening the institutional autonomy of universities and building effective duty systems.

Continuing collaboration among regional and nearby governments, non-public region and tertiary training institutions is necessary.