where

Asturias is located on the north-west Iberian peninsula, at the very heart of Green Spain

Population

It is home to over a million inhabitants and is one of the 17 Autonomous Communities that form the state of Spain. It is a member of the European Union and a member state of the Euro Zone.

Climate and geography

The climate in Asturias is Atlantic, with mild temperatures throughout the year. With 354 km of coastline, it naturally lends itself to being an ideal place to visit and live. The region is characterised by its extraordinary natural beauty, with breath-taking beaches and vast wooded areas, with a third of the land declared a natural protected area.

Natural Paradise

All these components make Asturias a “Natural Paradise”. Asturias also offers an excellent quality of life, with bustling cultural activity, a rich artistic heritage and ideal conditions for playing a whole host of sports.

Asturias in figures

Land area and climate

Land area: 10,604 km2
Average temperature:
max: 18.1 ºC; min: 9.9 ºC

Infrastructures

Roads, dual carriageways and
motorways: 5,007 km

International airport: 1,281,979
passengers (2016)

Industrial ports: Gijon and Aviles
broadband network across the entire region

Population and human resources (2017)

Population: 1,034,681
Active population: 461,600
Working population: 401,400
Unemployment rate: 13.03 %
Students (2016/2017):
21,584 university
14,979 vocational training

Economic information (2016)

GDP: 21,696 million €
GDP per capita: 20,910 €
Regional GVA Distribution:
Primary sector: 1.41 %
Industrial sector: 21.59 %
Construction: 6.70 %
Services sector: 70.30 %

Foreign commerce (2016)

Exports:
3,497 million €
Imports:
3,139 million €
Coverage rate: 111.42 %

foreign commerce

Asturian exports have traditionally been characterised for their heavy concentration of metallic products (iron, steel and zinc), in keeping with the iron and steel works sector in the regional economy.
In fact, in 2016, the export of zinc and its manufacturing, iron and steel smelting and its manufacturing contributed 44 % of all exported products from Asturias.

GVA distribution by sector 2016

There are three branches of activity that produce around 87 % of the turnover in Asturias and 85 % of industrial employment: