Culture, Education, Science and Community

Economy. GDP grows by 3.8% and high-street spending is up by 7.2% compared to 2023.

The city’s economy accelerated in the second quarter of 2024, with a rise of 3.8% in GDP compared to the same period last year, according to the calculations of the Municipal Data Office (OMD). High-street spending was also up by 7.2% between July and September compared to the same period last year.

Growth of the city’s economy

The report on GDP for the second quarter of 2024, compiled by the Municipal Data Office, highlights the reactivation of the building sector, rising from 0.6% to 2.7%, and the reactivation of services (particularly commerce, hotel and catering and transport), rising from 2.7% to 4.5% in this quarter.

If we compare Barcelona’s GDP constant value in euros from before the pandemic and the start of this year, we see that in real terms the figure exceeds the GDP from before the crisis by 8.2%.

More private consumption and maximum spending with bank cards

According to the report on private consumption in the city, based on the analysis of transactions with debit and credit cards, spending levels are up by 35% compared to the third quarter of 2019. This growth is explained by the increase in household incomes and the return from international tourism.

The sectors with the highest growth rates are transport and motor vehicles (13.7%), educational leisure and sport (10.9%), and tourism services and restaurants (9.4%). Growth in the technological sector has continued to drop since the last quarter of 2023 (down by 27.2%).

By category, the most notable increase is in leisure (21.6%) and bars and restaurants (13.5%). Accommodation has grown by 5.6%, while books and press are down by 0.2% and household spending is down by 32.4%.

Horta-Guinardó (9.6%), L’Eixample (9.4%), Sant Andreu (8%), Sants-Montjuïc (7.4%) and Les Corts (7.3%) are the districts with the biggest growth in spending.