Economy
The Basque Autonomous Community ranks first in Spain in terms of per capita income, with gross domestic product (GDP) per capita being 40% higher than that of the European Union and 33.8% higher than Spain's average in 2010, at €31,314 EUR. Industrial activities were traditionally centered on steel and shipbuilding, mainly due to the rich iron ore resources found during the 19th century around Bilbao. The Estuary of Bilbao was the center of the Basque Country's industrial revolution during the 19th and the first half of the 20th century. These activities decayed during the economic crisis of the 1970s and 1980s, giving ground for the development of the services sector and new technologies.
Today, the strongest industrial sectors of the Basque Country's economy are machine tool, present in the valleys of Biscay and Gipuzkoa; aeronautics in Vitoria-Gasteiz; and energy, in Bilbao.
The main companies in the Basque Country are: BBVA bank, Iberdrola energy company, (both of them have their headquarters in Bilbao) Mondragón Cooperative Corporation that is the largest cooperative in the world, Gamesa wind turbine producer and CAF rolling stock producer.
In 2012 and during the financial crisis the Basque Country outperformed Spain as a whole. Unemployment in the Basque Country is roughly 14.56%, a percentage in line with the EU average. Spain as a whole is the country with the highest unemployment rate in the European Union, at 24.6%.
In regards to GDP performance, Q4 meant that the Basque Country was out of recession with a 0.2% growth. The Spanish economy as a whole remained in recession after Q4.
During 2009 the Basque economy contracted by -3.3% compared to a -3.6% in the rest of Spain.
Read more about this topic: Basque Country (autonomous Community)
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