Economically Active Population Survey. Q2/2025

The employed population in Catalonia grew by 3.6% year over year in the second quarter of 2025, reaching 3,944,700 people. In absolute terms, the year-over-year increase was 137,100 people. Compared to the first quarter of 2025, the number of employed people increased by 94,600 (2.5%).

By sector, in year-over-year terms, the employed population rose in services (99,700 people; 3.5%), industry (30,000 people; 4.7%) and agriculture (7,500 people; 17.0%), while it remained virtually stable in construction (−100 people; −0.1%). Compared to the previous quarter, the employed population increased across all sectors: in services (46,100 people; 1.6%), industry (36,700 people; 5.8%), agriculture (6,400 people; 14.1%), and construction (5,300 people; 2.2%).

By sex, in year-over-year terms, the employment grew more among women (3.9%) than among men (3.4%). By age, the year-over-year increase in employment compared to the previous year was highest among the population aged 16 to 24 (11.8%), a group that grew by 18.3% compared to the previous quarter. Employed population aged 25 to 54 rose by 3.0% year over year and by 0.2% quarter over quarter. Finally, employed population aged 55 and over increased by 2.8% year over year and by 5.1% quarter over quarter.

By type of working day in year-over-year terms, full-time employment increased by 4.0%, while part-time employment rose by 1.3%. Among the salaried employees by type of contract, indefinite contracts grew by 4.7%, while temporary contracts decreased by 6.4%.

The unemployment rate stood at 8.11%, with a total of 348,300 unemployed people (47,000 fewer than the previous year, representing a decrease of 11.9%). By sex, unemployment among women fell by 1.9% year over year (with a rate of 9.07%), and that among men fell by 21.0% (with an unemployment rate of 7.25%). By age, the most significant decrease was among the unemployed population aged 55 and over (−33.1%) %), followed by those aged 25 to 54 (−8.7%). Last, the number of unemployed population aged 16 to 24 decreased by 1.9%.

Regarding specific sectors, the population employed in the cultural sector stood at 225,600 people (5.7% of total employment) and increased by 26.6% year-over-year and 14.4% quarter-over-quarter. By sex, the culture sector employed 133,200 men and 92,300 women.

In the tourism sector, the employed population stood at 536,000 people, accounting for 13.6% of total employment. This figure represents a decrease of 5.8% compared to the first quarter of 2025 and of 2.4% compared to the same quarter of the previous year. By sex, this sector employed 287,800 men and 248,200 women.

The ICT sector employed 170,100 people in the second quarter of 2025 (17.2% more than a year earlier and 1.0% more than the previous quarter), accounting for 4.3% of total employment.