Spain is the worst performing country in the European Union in terms of services market performance, according to the European Commission’s 2016 Consumer Markets Scoreboard. While some markets show improvement, each one remains below the EU28 average.
15 september 2016
That Spain relies heavily on its tertiary sector is no secret – such is the case for most, if not all developed countries. Approximately 75% of Spain’s GDP is produced by services, with tourism alone responsible for nearly 15% of that. Yet recent findings by the European Commission would lead one to believe that service providers on the Peninsula could be performing significantly better.
The 2016 Consumer Markets Scoreboard, published biyearly by the European Commission, reveals a striking asymmetry between customer satisfaction in Spain and in the rest of the EU. The average market performance of all goods and services markets surveyed in Spain in 2015 is 74.0 (out of 100), 1.6 points better than two years ago yet still 5.8 points below the EU28 average and a full 11 points behind the highest performing nation in the rankings. Spain ranks 26th or lower in 25 of the 42 markets surveyed.
While ratings in the Goods sector show some encouraging signs (while only three countries show worse average performance records than Spain, 13 of the 14 individual markets have improved since 2013 and 4 surpass the European average), it’s the Services sector that drags Spain’s overall market performance down: at 71.3, the country has the most dissatisfied customers in Europe (78.5 average). Not one of the 28 services markets beats their EU average MPI.
Interestingly, markets closely associated to the tourism industry are easily the best performing, with Holiday Accommodation, Cultural & Entertainment, Commercial Sport, Packaged Holidays & Tours and Cafés, Bars & Restaurants satisfying customers’ needs the most. All but the last market improved on their 2013 records.
On the other end of the spectrum, Electricity services has overtaken Mortgages as the worst performing sector in Spain, scoring 55.2 – the second worst rating in the EU, and an astonishing 20.1 points behind the European average (34.1 points below Luxembourg).
This follows previous domestic reports from the past year that warned of a growing disconnect between electricity providers and the quality of the service provided. 26% of Spanish consumers are “not at all or insufficiently” satisfied, with over 60% objecting to the pricing of the service. In fact, 92.6% of those complainants believed their electricity bill was too high. Only four EU28 countries have a higher EUR per kWh rate for households than Spain.
Performance from mortgage, mobile phone and water suppliers is also worrying, below 65.0. Bank Accounts close the bottom 5 with a rating of 64.1, despite a 5.8 point increase.
Perhaps the silver lining for Spanish businesses and service providers is that the overall trend is one of improvement, albeit small. Only 7 of the 28 markets have failed to improve on their 2013 performance.
Dwindling consumer trust is one of the many lingering effects of the financial crisis, and a huge cause of concern for Spanish businesses. Last year, the European Commission’s other biyearly report (the Consumer Conditions Scoreboard; each one is published in alternate years) discovered that an alarming number of Spanish consumers have been exposed recently to unfair commercial practices, while confidence in domestic online shopping is well below average. Trust ratings in public authorities, retailers and services authorities are some of the lowest in the EU.
The Consumer Markets Scoreboard, published every two years by the European Commission, has been tracking EU consumer satisfaction since 2008. Overall results for the European Union, along with Iceland and Norway, can be found here. The press release provides links to the full report, together with an infographic, a factsheet and other annexes.
