Catalans break the record for spending on culture, but job insecurity remains in the sector
The CoNCA annual report reveals a 35% increase in household consumption in 2024, driven by families with higher purchasing power
BarcelonaThere is a certain sense of déjà-vu when it comes to the diagnosis of the Catalan cultural system that the National Council of Culture and the Arts (CoNCA) produces every year. There is creative effervescence, but structural problems persist, such as job insecurity, territorial inequalities, and a decline in the social use of Catalan.
According to the CoNCA, one of the positive figures is that culture is being consumed more and more, as both private and public spending is growing. In 2024, Catalans spent 6,659 million euros on culture. In per capita terms, each citizen allocated 834 euros to leisure and cultural activities in 2024, and household spending amounted to 2,115 euros. This figure represents an increase of 35% compared to the previous year. However, it should be noted that consumption has intensified in households with greater purchasing power, which are the ones that have most driven the rebound.
On the other hand, the public budget allocated to culture reached 1,517 million euros, an increase of almost 11% compared to the previous year, equivalent to 189 euros per inhabitant, the highest value recorded to date. Of the total, the city councils contributed 58% and the Generalitat 31%, with the remainder being distributed among provincial councils and county councils.
Box office success but job insecurity
Performing arts are experiencing a great box office moment. In 2024, theaters in Catalonia grossed 107.9 million euros, the highest figure recorded to date, an increase of 7.8% compared to 2023. The number of active theaters (177), scheduled performances (19,871), and spectators (4.2 million) also grew, consolidating the sector's recovery. However, according to CoNCA, the public's success did not translate into an improvement in working conditions in the performing arts world, where the persistence of low wages, job intermittency, lack of social protection, and excessive reliance on vocation and self-exploitation were maintained.
The year 2024 also confirmed the recovery of the live music sector. In the case of popular music, 17,093 concerts were programmed, attended by almost 5 million spectators, with gross revenues close to 69 million euros, representing an increase of 20% in both revenue and spectators compared to the previous year. For classical music, 2,130 concerts were held, attracting 607,139 spectators and grossing 11.5 million euros, slightly exceeding the 11.3 million euros from 2019.
On the other hand, the Catalan record industry maintains a solid growth trajectory. In 2024, it achieved a turnover of 22.1 million euros, a figure representing an increase of 31% compared to the previous year and double that of 2020. The digital market is now clearly hegemonic, accounting for 84% of revenue, while the physical market and royalties jointly registered a decrease of 27%.
Cinematic exhibition registered a very significant drop that broke the positive trend of the previous two years. According to provisional data, the sector suffered a sharp fall in both spectators and revenue, ending at 11.6 million spectators and 85.7 million euros, far from the approximately 13 million attendees and 95 million euros achieved in the previous fiscal year. This setback occurred paradoxically, coinciding with the year with the highest number of titles released and exhibited.
Catalan production cinema is responsible for delivering the good news, as it strung together two excellent years and maintained a screen share of over 9%. On the other hand, the consumption of cinema in Catalan on the big screen – whether in original version, dubbed, or subtitled – had a negative year, as the share shrank to 4.6% (far from 7.8% in 2024). In absolute terms, it went from 1,024,916 to 532,290 viewers.
This setback in cinemas contrasts with the hegemony of streaming platforms, which continue to grow unstoppably. Between 2021 and 2025, the number of subscribers increased by 68% to reach 20.4 million, meaning that 7.8 million households now have access to these services. It is precisely in this digital environment where the Catalan language is growing slowly but steadily. Titles available in Catalan have gone from 2,054 in 2021 to 3,646 in 2025, an increase of 77%. Even so, the presence of Catalan continues to be a minority within the total offering and stands at around 10% of the total titles available.
More readers in Catalan in libraries
The Catalan publishing sector is experiencing a period of relative stability. In 2024, it achieved a turnover of 1,689 million euros, an increase of 9.4% compared to the previous year and 33.4% compared to 2020. Throughout the year, 87,542 titles were published, 17.3% more than in 2020. Titles in Catalan represented 13.2% of the total, a percentage that has not varied much in the last five years. Therefore, the challenge is to grow the readership in Catalan, especially among young audiences. The optimistic news for the language is found in the aisles of public libraries. In-person loans experienced a constant increase, going from 11.4 million in 2021 to over 15 million in 2025. At the same time, there was a notable increase in the percentage of loans in Catalan, which rose from 38% in 2021 to 52% in 2024.
The strong growth in spending does not benefit everyone equally. Visual arts, closely linked to private collecting, registered a global drop in activity of 30% compared to 2019, and the number of art galleries fell to just 121 across the country.