Population and Housing Census. 2021-2022. Relation to economic activity

A total of 64.8% of the population aged 16 to 64 was employed in the week prior to 1 January 2022 according to the Population Census, which is 2.4 percentage points more than in the previous year. By sex, the percentage was higher in men (67.3%) than in women (62.4%). The counties with the highest percentage of employed population were Aran (74.0%) and El Pla de l’Estany (72.5%), while the counties with the lowest percentage were L’Alt Urgell (57.4%) and La Selva (58.5%). The municipalities with the highest percentage were Sant Agustí de Lluçanès (87.1%), Granyanella and Pardines (84.0% each), while the municipalities with the lowest percentages were Lloret de Mar and Tossa de Mar (45.3% each) and Albanyà (49.5%).

There were 55,614 employed people aged 65 and over, 29,559 men and 26,055 women, whereas a year earlier there had been 50,646. 9.8% of people aged 65 to 69 were employed (11.4% of men and 8.4% of women), while in 2021 the percentage was 9.0%.

By nationality, the percentage of employed population aged 16 and over was 51.7% for Spaniards and 46.3% for foreigners.

A total of 9.9% of the working population was unemployed in the week prior to 1 January 2022, which is 3.1 percentage points less than in the previous year. By sex, the percentage was higher among women (11.7%) than among men (8.1%). The counties with the highest percentage were El Baix Penedès (15.6%) and El Baix Camp (12.5%), while the counties with the lowest percentage were Aran (4.1%) and La Cerdanya (5.7%). The municipalities with the highest percentage were Querol (25.1%) and El Montmell (24.3%), and the municipalities with the lowest percentage were Naut Aran (2.5%) and Fontanals de Cerdanya (3.0%).

In relation to the employed population by activity sectors, in 2021 there were 54,575 people employed in agriculture, 466,607 in industry, 199,802 in construction and 2,479,227 in services. By sex, women accounted for 47.5% of the employed population. The sector with the highest proportion of women was services at 54.1% followed by industry (31.0%). By nationality, foreigners made up 13.8% of the employed population. The sector with the highest percentage of foreigners was agriculture (36.5%) followed by construction (18.6%).

In relation to the employed population by large groups of occupation, in 2021 women represented 67.0% of clerical support workers but only 12.9% of craft and related trades workers. By nationality, foreigners accounted for 28.2% of employees in elementary occupations but only 7.4% of technicians and associate professionals.

In relation to employment status, in 2021, 65.8% of people employed were permanent or indefinite employees, 17.5% were temporary employees, 13.4% were self-employed without salaried staff, 3.0% were self-employed with salaried staff and 0.3% were in another situation. By nationality, 16.1% of Spaniards and 26.3% of foreigners were temporary employees.

Idescat is publishing the first results related to economic activity in the Population Census 2022 and an extension of the 2021 results. Data are provided for Catalonia, provinces, areas of the Territorial Plan, counties, municipalities, census tract groups and census tracts. The rest of the results in relation to economic activity in 2022 will be published in November 2024.