2023 was a year of high consumption in Barcelona’s commercial establishments, a year of records, such as in terms of public transport, as it may have been in certain tourist areas, to give two more examples of the city’s economic dynamism . The perception that was held at different times of the year, especially from mid-November to the end of December, is fully confirmed in a report that has just been made public by the Municipal Data Office of Barcelona City Council. The study indicates that private consumption in the Catalan capital closed 2023 with a nominal increase in private consumption of 9.4% compared to 2022 and 26.8% in relation to pre-pandemic 2019.
The analysis department’s study presents the evolution of private consumption in Barcelona in real time based on data on the use of credit and debit cards in the city’s shops.
Spending in the fourth quarter of 2023, a period that includes the Black Friday campaign and much of the Christmas campaign, registered an increase of 7.3% nominal compared to the same period of the previous year and a 27.3% if compared with the last three months of 2019. The report points out that, “despite the context of high interest rates and persistence of inflation, family consumption accumulates over two and a half years of a sustained upward trajectory, thanks in large part to the creation of jobs and the greater stability of employment”. The authors specify that these increases of 9.4% and 26.8% in nominal terms compared to 2022 and 2019, respectively, are more moderate in real terms, if the effect of the inflation
The document to which La Vanguardia has had access indicates that in the last quarter of 2023 the tourism and restaurant services sector was the one that grew the most in year-on-year terms. Specifically, by 10.6%. The transport and automotive sector also recorded increases (7.9%); culture, leisure and sport (7.3%); clothing, footwear and fashion (7%), and essential goods and services (5.2%). On the other hand, technology had a sharp drop, of 19%.
Taking all of 2023 into account, spending in all commercial sectors was higher than in 2022, except for technological products, which showed a decrease of 2.1%. However, spending in this sector is practically identical to that of 2019, while it is quite higher in the rest, except for the clothing, footwear and fashion sector, which has a 30% drop compared to the previous year in the pandemic
Above all others, the increase in spending in the field of tourist services and restaurants stands out: a nominal 13.5% more than in 2022 and 48.3% more than in 2019. The good tourist year that has lived in Barcelona partly explains these results. According to the Hotel Employment Survey, establishments in the Catalan capital will have closed in 2023 with numbers of customers and overnight stays similar to those of 2019, the year in which all the absolute records in this economic activity were broken. Without accounting for November and December, the set of hotel accommodations already exceeded seven million travelers and 18.6 million overnight stays. 2019 closed with 8.5 million customers and 21.3 million overnight stays.
The latest report from the Municipal Data Office of Barcelona City Council offers the results of private consumption in even more detail, instead of sectors by category. In 2023 as a whole, expenditure in the books and press category grew during the year that has ended by 17.8% compared to 2022. That of bars and restaurants, by 14.4%, above of the category called leisure, which had an increase of 10.4%, accommodation (7.4%) and home (5.8%). All categories, the municipal report concludes, exceeded 2019 spending levels.
