Andalusia’s Competitiveness Shows Infrastructure Strengths but Faces Innovation and Export Gaps

The Andalucía Competitiveness Council, backed by the APD Association and AON, convened 26 business leaders and university professors to present the APD 2026 Competitiveness Barometer. The region scored 34.23 points, classified as “Emergent,” behind the national average of 41.78.

Key strengths highlighted were high‑capacity network coverage (95 % overall, 95.7 % 5G) and a robust port traffic of 17.62 tonnes per capita, positioning Andalucía as a major logistics platform. Financial and investment metrics also outperformed the Spanish average, and the labour market showed positive trends in working‑age population and employment.

The report identified three main challenges: the predominance of small firms limiting scale, low R&D spending at 0.37 % of GDP (vs 0.78 % Spain‑wide), and modest patent activity (19 applications per million inhabitants, below the national 28.9). Additionally, internationalisation lagged, with weaker export intensity and limited foreign investment attraction. Antonio Pascual Acosta, council president, warned that future competitiveness hinges on improving productivity, company size, innovation capacity, and global market reach.