The economy of Tenerife grows above the regional average thanks to business confidence and the strength of the labor market. This is highlighted by the Boletín Insular de Tenerife with data relating to the third quarter of the year. For the first time, the number of workers on the Island is close to 423,000 people, highlights a report carried out by the Chamber of Commerce of the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
Tenerife ends the third quarter of this year with exactly 422,990 employed people after seeing its number decrease by 1,560 people during the summer months, according to the Active Population Survey (EPA). Of all these employees, more than 70,000 currently work in Tenerife in the commercial sector, with more than 6,000 companies.
Generation of employment. Despite this small quarterly drop of 0.4%, the Island has 31,140 more workers than a year ago (7.9%), also above the average regional increase of 5.3%, notes the Tenerife Island Bulletin. Regarding unemployment, there is a decrease both in its quarterly evolution –830 fewer unemployed people than in June (-1%)– and compared to the figures from a year ago –a drop of 5,310 people (-6.3%)– . In this way, the number of unemployed people in Tenerife was below 80,000 people (78,580) in the month of September, for the second consecutive quarter.
The Tenerife countryside and the industry. The primary sector (agriculture, cattle raising and fishing) stabilizes and the industry is the one that has performed best in the last quarter of the year, increasing registrations of commercial vehicles by 30% more and the movement of goods by 11% more. There are 1,3021 industrial companies on the Island that generate more than 17,000 direct jobs, and almost 50,000 indirectly.
Tourism, the usual locomotive. In tourism, the driving force of the island’s economy, Tenerife also registers record numbers of visitor arrivals, much higher than last year. 39% of foreign tourism that has arrived in Canary Islands He has done it to Tenerife. Meanwhile, up to 45% of national tourism that visits the Archipelago comes to Tenerife. It is the Island that receives the most tourists from the Canary Islands. The good performance of tourism has made it possible to boost other sectors such as transport and industry. The entry of tourists reaches maximums in this period of the year with 1,549,403 (foreigners and nationals), 5.5% above the figures from a year ago. The average regional growth, which for this same period was 2.8%, is exceeded.
Slowdown in consumption. This economic report, prepared by the Research Service of the Chamber of Commerce with the sponsorship of the Tenerife Councilshows that during the summer months the Tenerife economy stabilized its behavior compared to the second quarter, which did not prevent it from continuing to exceed the records reached in the same period of 2022. Consumption showed symptoms of slowdown during the quarter, although it continued improving in annual terms, while investment continued its advance with a downward trend.
Optimism prevails among businessmen. The Island’s businesspeople are more optimistic than pessimistic, with a slightly positive level of confidence in the fourth quarter of 0.4%, compared to the small regional decline of -0.4%. Present at the presentation of the new Tenerife Island Bulletin were the vice president of the Tenerife Cabildo and Minister of Tourism, Lope Afonso; the Minister of Industry, Commerce, Primary Sector and Animal Welfare, Manuel Fernandez; the president of the provincial Chamber of Commerce, Santiago Sesé, and the general director of the chamber entity, Lola Pérez.
Prudence marks the expectations for the end of the year, with 59.6% of companies estimating that they will maintain stable activity during the last three months of the year. However, the percentage of optimistic companies (24.5%) is still higher than pessimistic ones (15.9%).
2023, a good year in general terms. In the balance of the results achieved during the period of January and September and the activity forecasts for the fourth quarter, it can be confirmed that 2023 has been a good year for the economy and employment of Tenerife, according to the bulletin. It is a situation that will be difficult to sustain in 2024 due to the exhaustion of many of the factors that have influenced this improvement and the loss of purchasing power that Canarian families and tourists visiting the Island have experienced in the last year.
