2023 was a year of strong consumption in Barcelona's commercial establishments, a year of records, such as in public transport, as it may have been in certain tourist areas, to name two other examples of the city's economic dynamism. The perception that emerged 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 businesses.
Spending during 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% nominally compared to the same period of the previous year and 27.3% if is compared to the last three months of 2019. The report points out that “despite the context of high interest rates and persistence of inflation, household consumption has accumulated more than two and a half years of sustained upward trajectory, thanks in a good part to the creation of jobs and greater stability of employment.” The authors specify that these increases of 9.4% and 26.8% in nominal terms compared to the years 2022 and 2019, respectively, are more moderate in real terms, removing the effect of inflation.
The document to which La Vanguardia has had access indicates that, in the last quarter of 2023, the tourism and restaurant services sector grew the most in year-on-year terms. Specifically, it did so by 10.6%. The transportation and automotive sector also registered increases (7.9%); culture, leisure and sports (7.3%); clothing, footwear and fashion (7%) and essential goods and services (5.2%). On the other hand, technology suffered a sharp drop of 19%.
Considering the entire year 2023, spending in all commercial sectors has been higher than in 2022, except for technological products, which presents a decrease of 2.1%. Even so, spending in this sector is practically identical to that which occurred in 2019 while it is considerably higher in the rest, with the exception of clothing, footwear and fashion, which presents a drop of 30% compared to the year before the pandemic.
The increase in spending in the field of tourist services and restaurants stands out above all others: a nominal 13.5% more than in 2022 and 48.3% more than in 2109. The good tourist year that has been experienced Barcelona partly explains these results. According to the Hotel Occupancy Survey, the establishments in the Catalan capital will have numbers of clients and overnight stays in 2023 similar to those of 2019, the year in which all absolute records in this economic activity were broken. Without taking into account the months of November and December, the total number of hotel accommodations already exceeded 7 million travelers and 18.6 million overnight stays. 2019 closed with 8.5 million clients 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. For the whole of 2023, spending in the books and press category grew by 17.8% in the year just ended compared to 2022. That of bars and restaurants grew by 14.4%, above 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.
