The Spanish islands experienced a real economic boom in 2023 thanks to the powerful recovery of international tourism that occurred last year. A boost that has been reflected in its GDP data. The Balearic Islands —whose economy expanded by 4.2% last year— and the Canary Islands (3.8%) expanded their activity well above the national average of 2.5%.
This is reflected in the estimate of the composition of the national GDP by autonomous communities that the Airef published this Thursday on its website.. Based on the figures published by the tax authority, there were only four communities that grew above the country's average. Completing the list, beyond the islands, are Madrid – with GDP growth of 3% – and Catalonia, which registered an expansion of 2.7%.
In any case, the progress of the economy last year was considerable throughout the territory, with most communities growing above 2%. Above or equaling this reference are Andalusia (2.4%), the Basque Country (2.2%), Castilla y León (2.2%), Aragón (2.1%), La Rioja (2.1% ), Galicia (2%), Valencian Community (2%) and Navarra (2%). On the other side of the spectrum are Cantabria (1.9%), Murcia (1.9%), Castilla-La Mancha (1.7%), Asturias (1.7%) and Extremadura (1.7%).
These figures have been prepared with the same method with which national growth data is usually calculated.. That is, comparing the average of the four quarters of 2023 with the four of 2022 in percentage terms.
Recovery at different speeds
The strong growth registered on the islands is an obvious consequence of the recovery of foreign tourism. These two territories are, by far, the most dependent on the spending of international travelers. It has not been until 2023 when the sector has recovered the figures it managed in 2019. In 2022, foreign tourist arrivals were still 14.3% below the pre-Covid level.
It must be taken into account that the Balearic and Canary Islands have not closed the wound that the pandemic opened in their economies until 2023, precisely because they were missing the key piece of their productive fabric.. However, these two territories were not the only ones that recovered last year.. Castilla y León, Asturias and Extremadura also had to wait until the previous year to return to their 2019 GDP level.
Madrid is the CCAA that has grown the most since 2019
The balance by autonomies four years after the pandemic is uneven. While territories like Madrid have an economy 5% larger than at the end of 2019, for communities like Asturias or Extremadura the last four years have been a lost period.
The Madrid economy is the one that has grown the most since 2019, followed by Murcia, which occupies second place with 4.2%. The podium is closed by the Valencian Community and Cantabria, with a GDP level that is already 3.2% higher than before the pandemic. For its part, the Andalusian GDP is now 3% larger than at the end of 2019, while the Catalan economy has advanced 2.3% since that date.
In the group of communities that have moved the least from the starting box since the pandemic arrived, data such as the Balearic Islands (1.7%), Castilla y León (1.1%), the Canary Islands (1, 1%) and, above all, those of Asturias (0.4%) and Extremadura (0.2%).
The shock that the pandemic meant for the Spanish economy has accentuated the gap in growth that opened years ago between the most thriving territories and the most lagging ones.. Since the beginning of the 21st century, the Community of Madrid is the territory that has expanded the most. The Madrid economy is now 63.3% larger than in 2000, a growth speed that almost triples that of Castilla y León, and exceeds the national average by 20 points.
Among the most populated territories, Catalonia is the second autonomy that has grown the most this century, with a cumulative advance of 44.6%, practically in line with the national average.. Andalusia occupies the third step, with a GDP increase of 39.8% in that period, while the Valencian Community registers a GDP increase of 38.6%.