Mother tongue of the Catalan population 2021

The Catalan and Spanish languages coexist in the coastal region of Catalonia, both enjoying official and equal status. As of 2021, about half of the population of Catalonia considered Spanish their mother tongue, whereas about 37 percent reported being native speakers of Catalan. Only about 12.5 percent of the respondents stated to be fully bilingual. Catalonia was the second most populous autonomous community in Spain in 2020 with about 7.7 million people.

Editorial scene in Catalonia

Despite the fact that the vast majority of books in Spain are published in Spanish, the Catalan language ranked second in the country’s editorial scene at about 9 percent of book publications, revealing the weight of this language among other languages spoken in Spain. In fact, Catalan was one of the most translated languages in this country according to the latest studies.

Catalonia in Spain

The Catalan participation in the Spanish GDP was estimated at 18.6 percent in 2021. This figure maintained steadily over the last few years, with an average share of about 20 percent of the total GDP of the country. The average GDP per capita in Catalonia was significantly higher than that of the rest of Spain at 29,111 euros in 2020. During the same period, Spain’s average GDP per capita was 23,690 euros, whereas the Eurozone average stood at 29,910 euros per capita.