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Economic Decentralization Reduces Concentration in the Metropolitan Region of Salvador and Expands the Participation of Regional Hubs in GDP and Industrial Employment
A productive transformation with significant regional impact was recently highlighted by the FIEB Industry Observatory, drawing attention to the economic progress of the interior of Bahia. The study “Productive Decentralization and Interiorization” showed that Bahia’s economic activity has increasingly spread beyond the Metropolitan Region of Salvador. This change reduces the historical centralization of the economy in the capital and reorganizes the importance of regions linked to agribusiness, logistics, civil construction, mining, renewable energies, and the attraction of new industries. This movement demonstrates that the interior has come to play an increasingly decisive role in the state’s productive structure.
Productive Interiorization Changes Bahia’s Economic Weight
The Metropolitan Region of Salvador still concentrates an important part of Bahia’s industry and, therefore, remains relevant in the state economy. However, its share in the Gross Domestic Product fell from 48.3% in 2009 to 39.4% in 2021, according to the FIEB survey. This decline reveals a structural change, as interior regions began to grow above the state average. Moreover, this advancement reorganizes Bahia’s productive distribution and strengthens new economic centers outside the capital.
Western Bahia and Portal do Sertão Lead Regional Advancement
In this new scenario, the Rio Grande Basin in Western Bahia and the Portal do Sertão in the Feira de Santana region have gained prominence. According to Danilo Peres, economist at the Industry Observatory and responsible for the study, these two regions together increased their share in Bahia’s GDP by 6.1 percentage points. Meanwhile, the other 16 identity territories shared growth equivalent to 4.4 percentage points. This result highlights the strength of these hubs in the new state economic dynamics.
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Agribusiness Boosts the Industrial Strength of the West
Western Bahia has established itself as one of the main agro-industrial frontiers in the country, supported by the expansion of soy, corn, and cotton. Municipalities like Barreiras, Luís Eduardo Magalhães, and São Desidério have begun to attract investments related to agricultural processing, storage, logistics, and energy generation. Thus, rural production has moved beyond just the countryside and has also strengthened the regional industrial structure. This advancement reinforces the strategic role of the West in Bahia’s economy.
Feira de Santana expands logistical and industrial strength
Meanwhile, Feira de Santana has strengthened its position as the main road junction in Bahia, which has increased its capacity to attract companies. Large industries such as Nestlé, PepsiCo, Pirelli, Belgo Bekaert, and Vipal reinforce the productive presence in the region. Additionally, industrial diversification and the privileged location have boosted employment and economic activity in the Portal do Sertão. Regarding jobs, the manufacturing industry represents 73.1% of the total industry in the region.
Vitória da Conquista grows as a productive hub in the southwest
Besides these hubs, Vitória da Conquista has also come to occupy a prominent position in the southwest of Bahia. Between 2006 and 2024, the municipality practically tripled the number of industrial jobs, establishing itself as a regional center for commerce, services, and industrial production. This growth was accompanied by the expansion of civil construction, the food industry, the clothing sector, and furniture production. At the same time, strong population expansion helped sustain this new economic cycle.
Regional competitiveness requires targeted public policies
Despite the advancement of the interior, Danilo Peres assesses that industrial deconcentration should not occur through penalties to the Metropolitan Region of Salvador. On the contrary, the process needs to be supported by public policies capable of strengthening the competitiveness of the interior territories. This includes investments in physical infrastructure, technical education, technological innovation, productive credit, and regionalized tax incentives. Thus, each region can grow respecting its vocations, limits, and productive conditions.
The future of the Bahian industry in the interior
Currently, the advancement of the interior shows that the Bahian economy is undergoing a profound reorganization. The growth of the West, the Portal do Sertão, and Vitória da Conquista indicates that new productive centers have gained strength outside the capital. Meanwhile, industrial interiorization creates opportunities, expands jobs, and reduces the historical dependence on the Metropolitan Region of Salvador.
What could define Bahia’s next cycle: more infrastructure for the interior or a new industrial strategy to integrate all regions of the state?
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