Catalan economy grew by 1.2% in 2014, the best year since 2007

Barcelona (ACN).- Another positive figure has emerged to confirm  the economic recovery after years of crisis. Catalonia’s GDP grew by 1.2% over 2014, which are the best figures since 2007, before the financial crisis, according to early data released on Thursday by the Catalan Statistics Institute (Idescat) and the Catalan Finance Ministry. The figure is higher than the 0.9% economic growth foreseen in the Catalan Government’s budget for 2014 (approved in late 2013) but is lower than an early forecast made in March, when a 1.5% growth was predicted after the excellent figures from the first quarter. Besides this growth in the Catalan economy, in Spain as a whole, the economy grew by 1.4%, according to early data released by the Spanish Statistics Institute (INE). Furthermore, the Catalan economy grew by 0.4% in the last quarter of 2014 compared to September figures and by 1.5% in annual terms. In the first, second, and third quarters it grew by 0.5%, 0.4%, and 0.3% respectively (in quarterly terms). The Catalan Finance Minister, Andreu Mas-Colell welcomed these “very positive” figures and highlighted that economic growth “will continue” and will be “higher” in 2015. In addition, Mal-Colell was happy to have achieved a higher growth rate than the one predicted in the budget for last year. The definitive figures for 2014 will be released at the end of March.

The recovery of the services sector and the excellent figures from tourism, which broke all historic records, were the main engines of the Catalan economy during 2014. While the services sector posted a 0.4% decrease in 2013, a year later the sector grew by 1.5% in annual terms. Furthermore, foreign tourism grew by 7.6% during 2014, while domestic tourism also recovered from the crisis and posted positive figures. 

Catalonia’s industrial sector grew by 1.2% during 2014, while it had grown by 1% in 2013. During both years, it grew above the sector average of many Eurozone countries. During the 4^th quarter of 2014, the Catalan industrial sector grew by 1%, having already grown by 0.5% during the third quarter.

The construction and agricultural sectors register decreased growth

After the severe adjustment accomplished by the construction sector over the last few years, the sector’s Gross Added Value increased by 0.7% during the 4^th quarter of 2014 in Catalonia. However, despite the positive figure posted for the October-December period, the results are still negative for 2014 overall, posting a 2.6% drop. However, 2013 was even worse, when sector growth plummeted by 6.7%. The main indicators for the residential sub-sector were showing a clear improvement at the end of 2014: the price of new housing units was increasing, the number of registered mortgages growing and the number of construction work permits for new houses and flats also increasing. Furthermore, for public works, the number of licenses for new constructions has increased for the second consecutive year, although in 2012 this reached extremely low levels.

Furthermore, the agricultural sector (including livestock and fishing) decreased by 0.7% during 2014. This represents a significant contrast with the 3.7% growth registered in 2013. The primary sector started 2014 with a 4.1% growth in the first quarter, but it registered negative figures for the rest: -0.8 % in the second, -1.8% in the third and -4% in the fourth.