Yes, the Catalan economy has grown slightly more than Spain's in 2023 - at 2.6% as against the Spanish 2.5% - and a massive five times more than that of the euro zone as a whole (0.5%) over the same period, with Catalonia's exports and tourism being key elements. But there is more: one factor that is often not taken into account and which has been key to Catalonia having a "particularly intense post-Covid recovery phase" has been immigration, which has accelerated economic growth. However, since population increase has not been accompanied by an improvement in Catalonia's autonomous community financing - which comes through Spain's central government - it has aggravated the so-called fiscal deficit that Catalonia suffers from
The Memòria Econòmica de Catalunya (Catalonia Annual Economic Report), prepared by the Catalan chambers of commerce and presented this Thursday in Barcelona, emphasises that the Catalan economy has "shown great strength" in a complex context, with Europe in stagnation and very high interest rates. Growth for the post-Covid period, that is, comparing the 2023 GDP with that of 2019, is 5.9%, well above that of Spain (3.7%) and that of the euro zone (3.4%).
A key factor in this period, especially since the pandemic, has been growth in the Catalan population, which has reached 8 million. "In the last two years, Catalonia has gained 255,000 residents, an increase of 3.7% compared to 2.3% in Spain, and reached the historic population figure of 8 million people at the beginning of 2024".
Carme Poveda, director of the Annual Economic Report, explained that "this demographic growth, driven exclusively by foreign arrivals, has made it possible for the economy to boom through job creation and household consumption". However, "it has also put pressure on public services, such as transport, health and so on, and on the housing market, since the public sector has not been able to give an adequate response because of a chronic funding deficit".
Josep Santacreu, president of the Chamber of Commerce of Catalonia, urged the political class to reform Catalonia's funding mechanism to end this deficit. "It is time to address financing. With another system, everything that companies and Catalan society needs could be achieved more easily," he said, in the presence of acting Catalan president Pere Aragonès, who presided over the event. Santacreu also called for administrative simplification, professional training aligned with demand, for steps to be taken towards the energy transition and for companies to invest more in innovation and productivity.
The growth of the Catalan economy
What explains the Catalonia's cumulative GDP growth between the fourth quarter of 2019 and the first quarter of 2024 is public consumption (2.3 points) and the trade balance with the outside world (1.5 points), while private consumption and investment have a much smaller weighting. By sector, "the economic recovery has been entirely led by the services sector, while industry has just in this first quarter recovered to its pre-Covid value and construction is still 8% below", the report states.
Poveda also explained the reasons why the Catalan economy has been more resilient than those around it. The first is the strength of its exports, which in 2023 exceeded 100,000 million euros for the first time, and the boom in tourism, with a large increase in visitor spending. The second is record employment, accompanied by an increase in wages per hour worked. The third is "the high level of capitalization of Catalan companies, which has reached a historical maximum of 53%".
Nevertheless, the Economic Report on Catalonia points to four major challenges for the Catalan economy: improving productivity, for which they call for a greater investment effort; more concentration on R&D, to align with levels similar to those of the EU average, around 1.5% of GDP (currently the proportion is 1.13%); a better adjustment between labour supply and demand, and an acceleration of decarbonisation of the economy, with a determined commitment to renewable energies.