- Statistical Yearbook of Catalonia
- Demography · Society
- Culture · Language
- Language
- Knowledge of languages
Population aged 2 and over. By knowldedge of the main languages
| Can understand | Can talk | Can read | Can write | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gens | Amb dificultat | Bé | Gens | Amb dificultat | Bé | Gens | Amb dificultat | Bé | Gens | Amb dificultat | Bé | Població de 2 anys o més | |
| Catalan | 303.0 | 684.6 | 6,479.1 | 778.3 | 1,086.0 | 5,602.4 | 704.4 | 910.3 | 5,852.0 | 1,327.4 | 1,323.0 | 4,816.3 | 7,466.7 |
| Spanish | 39.4 | 186.0 | 7,241.4 | 57.2 | 290.2 | 7,119.3 | 274.0 | 303.7 | 6,889.0 | 300.5 | 500.2 | 6,666.1 | 7,466.7 |
| English | 5,559.3 | 498.8 | 1,408.6 | 5,576.4 | 675.7 | 1,214.6 | 5,584.9 | 427.9 | 1,453.9 | 5,616.3 | 595.1 | 1,255.3 | 7,466.7 |
| French | 6,787.1 | 201.1 | 478.5 | 6,799.0 | 285.1 | 382.7 | 6,799.0 | 188.4 | 479.3 | 6,832.0 | 297.6 | 337.1 | 7,466.7 |
| Arabic | 7,293.7 | 16.2 | 156.8 | 7,295.5 | 20.1 | 151.1 | 7,323.6 | 27.5 | 115.6 | 7,326.2 | 30.2 | 110.3 | 7,466.7 |
| Italian | 7,312.6 | 20.7 | 133.4 | 7,315.0 | 43.2 | 108.6 | 7,317.1 | 32.1 | 117.5 | 7,331.4 | 52.3 | 83.0 | 7,466.7 |
| German | 7,332.6 | 54.2 | 79.9 | 7,334.4 | 59.1 | 73.3 | 7,334.6 | 53.5 | 78.6 | 7,339.8 | 58.1 | 68.9 | 7,466.7 |
| Units: Milers de persones. | |||||||||||||
| Source: Idescat, based on the INE's Survey on Main Characteristics of the Population and Housing. | |||||||||||||
| Can understand | Can talk | Can read | Can write | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gens | Amb dificultat | Bé | Gens | Amb dificultat | Bé | Gens | Amb dificultat | Bé | Gens | Amb dificultat | Bé | Població de 2 anys o més | |
| Catalan | 4.1 | 9.2 | 86.8 | 10.4 | 14.5 | 75.0 | 9.4 | 12.2 | 78.4 | 17.8 | 17.7 | 64.5 | 100.0 |
| Spanish | 0.5 | 2.5 | 97.0 | 0.8 | 3.9 | 95.3 | 3.7 | 4.1 | 92.3 | 4.0 | 6.7 | 89.3 | 100.0 |
| English | 74.5 | 6.7 | 18.9 | 74.7 | 9.0 | 16.3 | 74.8 | 5.7 | 19.5 | 75.2 | 8.0 | 16.8 | 100.0 |
| French | 90.9 | 2.7 | 6.4 | 91.1 | 3.8 | 5.1 | 91.1 | 2.5 | 6.4 | 91.5 | 4.0 | 4.5 | 100.0 |
| Arabic | 97.7 | 0.2 | 2.1 | 97.7 | 0.3 | 2.0 | 98.1 | 0.4 | 1.5 | 98.1 | 0.4 | 1.5 | 100.0 |
| Italian | 97.9 | 0.3 | 1.8 | 98.0 | 0.6 | 1.5 | 98.0 | 0.4 | 1.6 | 98.2 | 0.7 | 1.1 | 100.0 |
| German | 98.2 | 0.7 | 1.1 | 98.2 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 98.2 | 0.7 | 1.1 | 98.3 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 100.0 |
| Units: Percentatge. | |||||||||||||
| Source: Idescat, based on the INE's Survey on Main Characteristics of the Population and Housing. | |||||||||||||
Last update: July 6, 2023.
Methodological note
Definition of concepts
- Knowledge of Catalan
- The data in these statistics correspond to the population of two years or more by knowledge of catalan. It is considered: A person «understands» Catalan if they are able to understand a conversation in Catalan on an everyday subject. A person «can read» Catalan if they are able to read everyday texts, such as announcements, newspapers, etc. A person «can speak» Catalan if they are able to maintain a conversation in Catalan on an everyday subject. A person «can write» Catalan if they are able to write notes, postcards, etc. sufficiently correctly, even if not totally correctly.
Methodological aspects
The Statistics on Main Characteristics of the Population and Housing is a sample survey that complements the results of the Population and Housing Census. The main objective of the survey is to obtain information on variables for which there is no information from administrative registers and thus give continuity to the existing census series.
In the Statistics on Main Characteristics of the Population and Housing 2021, the question on knowledge of Catalan has changed with respect to that of the Population Census. Thus, instead of the answer options 'yes' and 'no' in the Statistics there are three options: 'well', 'with difficulty' and 'not at all'.
Idescat publishes information on the knowledge and uses of the 7 most popular languages in Catalonia: Catalan, Spanish, English, French, Arabic, Italian and German.
You can get more information about these statistics in the methodology.