Catalan GDP up 3.6%, surpassing €300 billion for first time in history

Catalonia’s economy has exceeded €300 billion for the first time ever, up 3.6%, significantly outpacing the rest of Spain (+3.2%) and nearly quadrupling the European average (+1%). These figures, recently published by the Statistical Institute of Catalonia (Idescat), show that the region’s GDP reached exactly €316.728 billion in 2024.

Several factors contributed to this growth, including strong domestic demand, which rose 4%, household consumption (+3.5%), public sector spending (+5.3%) and investment (+3.2%). In terms of foreign trade, exports increased 1.8% while imports rose 2.7%.

On the supply side, all economic sectors posted positive growth: industry (+3.9%), services (+4.1%), agriculture (+4.2%) and construction (+1.7%). Notably, tourism broke records once again, boosting revenue in hospitality, food services and all related industries.

These figures confirm the continued strength of the Catalan economy. The robust performance of the Catalan economy contrasts with weaker growth seen in the European Union’s largest economies. France, the eurozone’s second-largest economy by GDP, grew 1.1% last year, while the third-largest economy, Italy, managed only 0.5%. Germany, long considered Europe’s economic powerhouse, ended the year with a contraction of 0.2%, marking its second consecutive year of negative growth.