Catalan economy sees nearly 6% growth in 2021

The Catalan economy enjoyed a strong bounceback in 2021 after the disastrous results of 2020 brought on by the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The GDP of Catalonia grew by 5.9% in 2021 according to provisional data released by Idescat statistics institute on Friday, almost a full point above the Spanish average, which sat at 5%, and also above the EU average, at 5.2%.

Yet, Catalonia's economy decreased by 11.5% in 2020, a sharper drop than the Spanish average (10.8%) and significantly worse than the EU average (-5.9%)

The fourth quarter of last year saw the economy expand by 6.9%, an even higher figure than the average of the year, thanks to a key contribution of the service industry.

Some sectors recover pre-pandemic levels

Indeed, throughout the year, the service sector grew by 6.3%, with big surges of hotels, travel agencies and air transport, who were badly affected by the Covid first outbreaks in 2020. Yet, none of them has recovered their pre-pandemic weight in the Catalan economy. 

Meanwhile, other sectors within the service industry, such as wholesale, post, storage, and transport, have already surpassed values registered just before the first months of the pandemic.

As for industry, it was up by 5.6%, with sectors such as chemical, metallurgical and food sectors recovering pre-pandemic levels, but the automotive industry falling short. 

Construction was up by 1.8% compared to end of 2020, while agriculture grew by 1.5%.