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The Agri-food sector, considered strategic during the crisis, generates 4.5% of GDP and 4.6% of employment in the Valencian Community

The primary sector and agricultural industry generate 5.4% of GDP and 6% of total employment in Spain. It is considered to be a strategic sector during the crisis, as it maintains domestic supply levels and also meets external market demands. Although in the Valencian Community these percentages are somewhat smaller, the sector has an important weight in exportation, since it concentrates 12.5% of Spain’s total agri-food sector sales to third countries.

Of these exports, 68% are from the primary sector, while the remaining 32% correspond to the agri-food industry. In total, the Valencian agri-food sector accounts for 20.2% of the Valencian Community’s total exports of goods.

Given the importance of this sector to both the economy and the country’s own food supply, the new COVID-19 IvieExpress report carried out by Joaquín Maudos and Jimena Salamanca stresses the importance of protecting the agri-food supply chain during the coronavirus crisis to guarantee job safety and labor-force availability