The debt of Spanish families has been reduced by 4% compared to July 2011, reaching €848.4 billion by the end of July 2012. 77% of this family debt is related to real estate loans. Private companies passed from a global debt of €863.9 billion in July 2011 to a debt of €804.2 billion a year later.
Foreign tourism in Catalonia continues to flourish despite the economic crisis. In July, there have been just over two million foreign tourists to Catalonia, 9% more than in the same month of 2011. In the first seven months of 2012, Catalonia hosted 8.4 million foreign tourists, a figure which represents 25.6% of international tourism to Spain. Catalonia has therefore consolidated its position as the most visited tourist destination in Spain.
The economic crisis hits Catalan industrial areas. In Catalonia there is a total of 35,000 hectares of industrial plots of land. Up to 40% of this surface has no use after four consecutive years of losing activity, and during this time there have been more industrial buildings closing than opening.
With 5.13 billion in foreign sales in June, Catalan exports have grown by 6.6% over the same period in 2011. Amongst the Autonomous Communities, Catalonia ranks first for its export economy, in the first six months of this year Catalan companies sold up to €29.1 billion abroad. The increase in foreign exports and the fall in imports have reduced the trade deficit by 31% in the first six months of this year.
The Catalan Government’s drug prescription fee and the Spanish Executive’s decision to make citizens pay for a greater share of prescribed drugs have had an effect on inflation. The price of pharmaceutical products has had its highest increase since at least 2003.
The Catalan economy remains in recession and decreased by 1.1% compared to last year. Although tourism and the foreign sectors have seen an increase, internal demand has been reduced, decreasing business in the industrial, construction and services sectors. The number of foreign tourists increased by 12.3% and tourist spending increased by 14.3%. In both cases, the percentages are much higher than the figures for Spain as a whole (2.9% and 5.6% respectively).
Unemployment dropped in July by 784 people, which represents a 0.13% decrease compared to a month ago. It is the fifth consecutive month that the number of unemployed people has decreased in Catalonia, reaching 614,792 jobseekers. In the whole of Spain, unemployment decreased for the fourth month in a row, dropping by 0.6%. Long term unemployment and youth unemployment have decreased in Catalonia. However, compared to 12 months ago, general unemployment has increased by 7.8%. In addition, the number of indefinite new contracts dropped by 1.3% compared to a year ago.
Unemployment has fallen by 15,400 people in Catalonia during the second quarter according to the latest Labour Force Survey published this Friday by the National Statistics Institute. The overall totals indicate that 821,600 of the working population in Catalonia are unemployed at a rate of 20.95%, 130,700 more than a year ago. The state total shows an increase in unemployment in the second quarter, bringing Spain’s total to 5.7 million people without work, 24.6% of the working population. With nearly a quarter of the working population unemployed, the figures are higher than the historical record reached in 1994 during the last crisis.
Catalan companies sold more goods and services abroad than they did to the rest of Spain in 2011. 52.9% of all Catalonia’s external sales were made abroad, while 47.1% were made to the rest of Spain. In addition, it is the first time that Catalonia has registered a positive balance of trade.
From Sunday to Wednesday, the Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), located in Tarragona, hosted a chemistry conference in order to discuss the latest discoveries in this discipline. Six chemistry Nobel Prize winners participated in the ‘Southern Catalonia Nobel Campus’, as well as Finn Kydland, who won the Nobel Prize of Economics in 2004. Kydland gave the opening speech. The chemistry days took place at the PortAventura conference centre, located next to the Costa Daurada amusement park.
Sales of industrial goods to non-EU markets increased by 28% between January and March. Catalan industry reached a record in 2011 by exporting €55.19 billion in goods. However, the sector continues to lose jobs, which makes it more competitive in return. Also, industrial investment increased by 2.4% in 2011.
The Catalan company has promoted its presence in BRIC countries and has achieved two consecutive years of profits therefore recovering from the effects of the explosion of the property bubble
House prices have dropped for 17 consecutive quarters in Catalonia. Last quarter’s drop was the highest since the crisis in the sector began in 2008, falling by 14.6% in the last 12 months. In Spain as a whole, house prices dropped by 11.8%.
Compared to the rest of industrialised countries, Catalonia’s industrial sector improved its competitiveness index by 0.7% between October and December 2011, compared to the same period a year earlier. Catalan industrial prices have been improving their competitiveness since 2009.
Catalonia’s GDP decreased by 0.1% between January and March 2012, which represents a minor drop compared to the last quarter of 2011. However, the Catalan economy has had red numbers for two consecutive quarters and technically enters a recession. The good results in the tourism and export industries improve the macroeconomic figures.