The consulting sector invoices 10% more and exceeds 21.5 billion in 2023 | Companies

The consulting sector is consolidating its growth and in 2023 it will exceed the figures recorded before the pandemic. The income of consulting companies reached 21,575 million euros last year, which is 9.7% more than in 2022, when 19,659 were entered, as highlighted by the Spanish Association of Consulting Companies (AEC), in its annual report Spanish consulting: The sector in figures. The national market has had a lot of influence on the sector, since it has reported 13,938 million euros, which represents an increase of 10.7% compared to the previous year, to which we must add 7,637 million coming from abroad, an 8 ,1 more.

According to the AEC, these positive figures are not only due to the fact that the Spanish economy continues to show signs of recovery to levels prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, but also to the fact that international conflicts and their effects have posed “new challenges” that, in turn, have generated new opportunities. These circumstances will continue in 2024, which is why the association estimates that the sector will maintain the path of growth and foresees an increase in its income of 7.7%, reaching 23,236 million euros.

The numbers registered in 2023 continue the upward trend of recent years, whose services are required by numerous companies and public administrations to transform business models and carry out digitalization processes to adapt to current environments. Thus, as the report highlights, 31% of the consulting firms’ income, that is, 6,818 million euros, come from projects that have demanded knowledge in advanced technologies and methodologies. cloud computing (cloud computing), big data & analytics (collection, examination and analysis of large amounts of data); artificial intelligence, automation and robotization, blockchain (data chain), among others.

The financial sector and the public lead the demand

The financial sector continues to be the one that demands the most services and it is expected that this will continue this year. In 2023 it generated a total revenue volume of 6,106 million euros (28.3% of the total), which allows it to position itself in first position, although its weight has decreased by just over one point compared to last year. The second place is for public administration (leaving public health aside), with 3,474 million euros (16.1%); while in third place is the telecommunications and measurement sector, which although they reduced income compared to 2022, paid a total of 2,352 million euros for said works (10.9% of the total for 2023).

Not far behind is the distribution and consumption sector, whose invoices amounted to 2,287 million euros (10.6%), which registers marked growth compared to a decade ago, when it represented only 2.5% of the total. It is followed by energy, with 1,899 million euros (8.8%). And the remaining 25.3% corresponds to the transport and tourism sectors (7.7%), manufacturing (6.5%), health (5.7%), construction and infrastructure (2.7%) and other sectors. (2.7%).

Specifically, the most demanded services continue to be those of subcontracting (or outsourcing), followed by development and integration services and consulting. Although the former have slightly increased their presence, as their income has gone from representing 44.7% of the total in 2014 to 45.5% in the last year, rising to 9,817 million euros; Consulting companies have registered greater growth in the last 10 years, since their income went from representing 16.7% of total turnover in 2014 to 22.3% in the last year, with 4,811 million euros. For their part, development and integration services, which for years have had a great weight, have noticed a drop, since last year they contributed 32.2%, recording 6,947 million euros, compared to 38.6% in 2014.

José María Beneyto, who presents this x-ray of the sector for the first time since he became President of the AEC last March, highlights that the consulting sector has a “fundamental role” in the digital transformation of organizations.” In his opinion, this process is “essential to confront the scenario of uncertainty in which we have been immersed for years, and to advance the necessary modernization of the economy and society.” In this sense, he highlights that artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly important: “it is a key driver for the development of the consulting sector, not only in terms of advice to its clients, but also investment in technological resources and training of its professionals.” According to the document, consulting firms invested 1,079 million euros in innovation last year.

Staff increase

Regarding the number of workers, Spanish consulting companies have more than 281,000 professionals, which represents a growth of 6.3% compared to the previous year. According to the AEC, the firms made around 72,000 hires, of which 70% were men and 30% women. 27% were young, recent graduates with no prior experience, excluding scholarship holders and people with training agreements with educational institutions from this range. According to the consultancy employers’ association, gender diversity is one of the “priorities” of the sector, since every year the firms implement policies to promote the presence of women in their teams. The number of women in the sector was 90,600 in 2023, 32.2% of all workers, which represents a slight reduction compared to the previous year.

Regarding the training level of consultants, the report indicates that, as in previous years, the majority of them (62%) have university studies and, of these, almost 65% come from a science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) degree, which are the most in-demand in the digitalisation projects led by consulting firms. Likewise, graduates in Vocational Training have increased and represent 22.5% of the total number of employees, more than two points above the figure for last year. According to the AEC, companies have also invested 92.2 million euros to continue training their employees, which is 17.5% more than in 2022 and 71.4% if this figure is compared to that recorded in 2016.

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