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Small Area Socioeconomic Index. 2024. Provisional data

According to provisional data, the municipalities with more than 500 inhabitants that had the highest Small Area Socioeconomic Index (IST) in 2024 were Matadepera (130.1), Tiana (125.3) and Vilablareix (125.1). At the other end of the scale, the municipalities with the lowest Small Area Socioeconomic Index were Barbens (57.3), Salt (59.3) and Sant Pere Pescador (62.9).

The IST index brings together information from six indicators in a single value: two on employment situation, two on educational level, one on immigration status and one on income.

In this publication, all the indicators used in the calculation of the IST have been updated, except for the income indicator, which will be published during the last quarter of the year, in accordance with the dissemination schedule of the reference statistical source. For this reason, the data published are provisional. The final version of the IST will be published once the updated income indicator has been incorporated.

In terms of municipalities with more than 500 inhabitants, those with the highest and lowest values for each of the indicators were as follows:

  • Employed population aged 20 to 64 (67.2% in Catalonia as a whole). This indicator showed the highest value in Vilablareix (83.8%) and the lowest in Ulldecona (51.0%).
  • Low-skilled workers (11.4% in Catalonia as a whole). The municipality with the lowest value was Matadepera (3.2%) and the one with the highest value was Sant Pere Pescador (34.6%).
  • Population aged 20 or over with low educational level (13.1% in Catalonia as a whole). The municipality with the lowest value was Matadepera (3.4%) and the one with the highest value was Salt (27.9%).
  • Young population without post-compulsory education (22.4% in Catalonia as a whole). This indicator shows the greatest inequality between municipalities. The municipality with the lowest value was Fontanals de Cerdanya (2.3%) and the one with the highest value was La Jonquera (53.5%).
  • Foreigners from low- or middle-income countries (13.5% in Catalonia as a whole). The municipality with the lowest value was Olius (1.2%) and the one with the highest value was Guissona (51.4%).

As for census tract groups, those with the highest IST were Barcelona 78 (Les Tres Torres) (133.9) and Sant Cugat del Vallès 8 (Parc Central - El Colomer - Pla de la Pagesa - Can Majó) (133.4). At the other end of the scale, the census tract groups with the lowest IST were Salt 3 (Nucli Urbà Nord-oest) (35.3) and Balaguer 2 (Nucli Urbà Oest - Nucli Antic) (47.7).

Census tract groups are territorial units of between 5,000 and 20,000 inhabitants made up of contiguous census tracts with similar socioeconomic characteristics. In the 106 most populous municipalities, a total of 710 sub-municipal census tract groups similar to neighbourhoods have been defined. This makes it possible to analyse differences in the IST within municipalities.

Girona, Badalona, Barcelona and Lleida are the municipalities with the greatest differences between census tract groups. In Girona and Badalona, there was a difference of more than 70 points between the IST of the census tract groups with the highest and lowest indices. In the case of Barcelona and Lleida, the differences exceeded 60 points

The results for the municipality of Barcelona are also presented for the city’s 73 neighbourhoods as defined by the City Council. Of these, 9 had an IST below 80, including Ciutat Meridiana (68.1) and El Besòs i el Maresme (72.9). At the other end of the scale, 9 neighbourhoods had an IST of 120 or higher, including Les Tres Torres (133.4) and Sant Gervasi - Galvany (129.1).

The IST results are published at the sub-municipal level for 853 census tract groups, Barcelona's neighbourhoods and 5,117 census tracts in Catalonia. Results are also available by county and for all municipalities. This information can be viewed via the ISD map viewer

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