Continuing with its focus on the productivity and competitiveness deficits of the Spanish economy, the BBVA Foundation and Ivie have launched a new project, the Observatory of Productivity and Competitiveness in Spain (OPCE in its Spanish initials), whose aims are to generate systematic data and carry out international, sectoral and regional analyses and comparisons on productivity and competitiveness in Spain.

The report is divided into two parts. The first provides an overview, describing the structure of the accompanying database and its main results, with a temporal, international and regional perspective. The second takes an in-depth look at Spain’s productivity problems at both the aggregate and the sectoral level. It accompanies this analysis with a summary of the main conclusions reached by National Productivity Boards in other countries, which serve as a benchmark.

The long time period studied (1995-2023) allows the authors to compare the effects of the various cycles the Spanish economy has passed through so far this century. Likewise, an analysis by sector permits meaningful conclusions on the role of Spain’s sectoral specialization in its overall productivity performance and in comparison with other developed countries.

Spain stands out internationally for the severity of its productivity deficit in terms of both labor and capital and total factor productivity (TFP). Although the problem has been known about for years, and highlighted by specialists and international institutions, not enough has been done in either the public or private sphere to design policies that can drive a change.

The OPCE comes into being to address this gap and provide the general public, analysts and policymakers with an extensive and detailed databank and a series of reports that analyze the issue from different standpoints.