The arrival of immigrants, tourism, and productivity make the Catalan economy the fastest growing in Europe.

BarcelonaThe incorporation of immigrants into the labor market and the improvement in productivity were the two main drivers of the Catalan economy last year, which has allowed Catalonia to exceed the growth rates of the major European economies, according to the report. Economic Report of Catalonia 2024, presented this Thursday by the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce.

"The real economy has been a positive surprise," explained the director of the study, Carme Poveda, because expectations for 2024 were for lower growth due to the global uncertainty caused by the return of Donald Trump to the presidency of the United States and the various armed conflicts, such as the invasion of the in-va war and the reverse war of the war. In this sense, the president of the Chamber, Josep Santacreu, has sent an "optimistic message" about the evolution of the economy that "despite everything the environment is advancing."

Catalonia grew by 3.6% in 2024, four-tenths of a percentage point higher than the Spanish average and well above the 0.9% for the eurozone as a whole. In this regard, the President of the Generalitat (Catalan government), Salvador Illa, welcomed the positive figures: "We're doing better than our neighboring economies," he said at the presentation of the report at the Lonja de Mar.

Poveda emphasized that the Catalan economy has grown due to "consumption and services." But above all, he highlighted the increase in population, which in the case of Catalonia has grown by 358,000 inhabitants in the last three years. "This population increase is due exclusively to the immigrant population, because the national population is declining," he asserted.

The arrival of more immigrants has translated into an increase in the employed population. In this sense, the labor market created around 92,600 new jobs last year, of which 79,200 were filled by foreign workers.

The other element Poveda highlighted was productivity, which has declined across Europe as a whole since the end of the pandemic and which in Catalonia has grownThis has partly translated into an improvement in the competitiveness of the economic fabric, which has brought improvements in the foreign sector.

"Catalan exports and industry are more resilient than in the eurozone," added Poveda, who also highlighted that tourism has once again broken records, but at the same time has improved quality: 56% of visitors to Catalonia who stay in hotels do so in 4- or 5-star establishments.

Regarding the opening of the Catalan economy, Oriol Amat, professor of financial economics at Pompeu Fabra University, emphasized that "there are few territories in the world as internationalized as the Catalan business community." Amat presented the section of the report dedicated to the business community and emphasized that Catalan companies are increasing investment in research while at the same time "significantly reducing their debt."

Low wages

Amat pointed out that the profitability of Catalan companies has grown by 117 percent in recent years, a positive element that contrasts with the stagnation of salaries. "One piece of less positive news is that real wages have barely increased in the last five years," commented Poveda, who noted that between 2019 and last year, real wages (discounting the effect of inflation) have only risen 0.5 percent in Catalonia.

In this regard, Illa called for prosperity to be "shared" so that it "reaches everyone" and asked the chambers of commerce to work with the Catalan government to find solutions to the housing crisis, which he described as the "main obstacle" facing the country today in economic matters.