• Catalonia is the region with the second-highest GDP, after Madrid, accounting for 18.8% of Spain's total GDP.
• With a population of 8.1 million inhabitants (16.5% of the Spanish population), it is also the second-largest region in demographic terms, after Andalusia.
• GDP per capita stands at 35,325 euros, the fourth highest in the country and 14.1% above the average.
• Catalonia has a highly diversified production sector, although it is most notable for the relative importance of its manufacturing industry (15.5% of GDP vs. 11.9% on average across Spain); in contrast, agriculture only accounts for 0.9% (vs. 2.7%).
• It is highly export-oriented, with goods exports accounting for 35.7% of GDP, 10 points above the average, and it is the region with the highest volume of exports: 100.133 billion euros in 2024, 26.0% of the total. The leading export sectors are chemical products (30.5% of the total), above all medicine, motor vehicle industry products (14.5%) and textile products (5.9%): the region accounts for almost 49% of Spanish exports of chemical products, 40% of its meat and around 30% of its products from the motor vehicle industry, textile products and industrial machinery. Moreover, it is the region with the highest revenues from international tourism, standing at almost 20 billion euros in 2024 (21% of the total).

The Catalan economy is highly buoyant. At CaixaBank Research, we estimate that GDP grew by 3.3% in 2024 (3.2% in Spain). This was thanks to the upturn in employment and a buoyant tourism industry, against a backdrop of strong population growth. It is one of the regions with the fastest-growing populations in recent years: 1.3% in 2024 and 5.2% since 2019. Industry and agriculture also recovered strongly after the sharp downturn of 2022-2023, and construction performed well.

Catalonia will continue to grow at an above-average rate in 2025, albeit at a subdued pace: we forecast GDP growth of 2.6% (2.5% in Spain). We expect investment to gather pace, due to improving financing conditions and the further disbursement of NGEU funds. Therefore, thanks to its highly diversified production sector, the region is better placed to take advantage of these funds.

Much like the rest of the country, Catalonia's labour market is performing extremely well, with the number of registered workers affiliated to Social Security rising by 2.4% in 2024, the same as in Spain, while in February 2025 it rose by 2.1% year-on-year (vs. 2.4%); over the last year, employment in professional activities, healthcare and transport has risen sharply. It has the third lowest unemployment rate in the country, 7.9% in Q4 2024
(vs. 10.6%).

Consumption is also buoyant, thanks to easing inflation, rising job creation and the upturn in wages. The volume of sales of retail and consumer goods rose by 2.2% in 2024 (2.1% in Spain), although it slowed down at the start of 2025 (1.8% year-on-year in January vs. 2.3%). However, after a modest increase in 2024 (2.6%), passenger car registrations surged in January-February 2025 (8.4% year-on-year).

Industrial production had been performing poorly in recent years, amid falling orders and sluggish foreign demand. After virtually stagnating in 2022-2023, last year the IPI recorded significant growth of 3.4%, the second highest of all regions (0.7% countrywide); however, 2025 has started on a weaker footing (–1.3% year-on-year in January vs. –1.0%).

Exports of goods fared poorly in 2024, hampered by sluggish European demand, resulting in a decline of 0.5% (0.2% in Spain). There was a sharp fall in sales of energy products – hit by lower prices –, industrial machinery and products from the motor vehicle industry, whereas sales of food and chemical products rose; in January 2025, they show a marked improvement: 3.3% year-on-year (vs. –1.2%). Tourism continues to make steady progress. Overnight stays rose by 3.6% in 2024 and 2.3% year-on-year in January, slightly below the average (4.4% and 3.9%), while the number of foreign visitors continued to break records, growing by 9.7% in 2024 (10.1% in Spain) and 12.4% year-on-year in January 2025 (vs. 6.1%).