The Catalan industry stagnates in July while the Spanish one rebounds

BarcelonaThe productive capacity of the Catalan industry remained practically flat in the month of July, while the Spanish one accelerated strongly. According to the latest data corresponding to the industrial production index, published by the National Statistics Institute this Thursday, the Catalan manufacturing sector accelerated only by 0.3% during the seventh month of the year, while the State average climbed by 2.6%.

With this data, Catalonia maintains the streak of five consecutive months with productive gains in the industrial segment, although it remains far from the expansion of the State as a whole. If we look at the evolution throughout 2026, the Principality continues to lag behind, although not with as much intensity: this year the production index has grown by 0.9%, compared to 1.3% for the Spanish average.

Sectoral distribution

The sectoral distribution of this evolution is uneven. According to data on industrial production from the INE, an increase of 1.3% was recorded in the consumer goods segment, and 4.9% in the case of energy. Meanwhile, capital goods experienced a production decline of 0.7%, and intermediate goods fell by 1.5%.

In total, the evolution of the Catalan production index remains far from that of the territories that have grown the most. The most significant rises are concentrated, according to the INE, in Murcia, with an expansion of 9.6% in July; in Cantabria, which grew by 7.1%, and in the Balearic Islands, with a rise of 5.5%. The Community of Madrid and the Basque Country also record year-on-year increases higher than Catalonia, with rises of 4.6% and 2.3%, respectively. It is worth noting that in these cases the month-on-month evolution compared to June is negative: while Madrid retreats by 4%, the Basque Country falls by 2.6%. For its part, the Principality evolves positively by 4.9% compared to the previous month, against 2% for the Spanish average.