Population and Housing Census. 2024. Relation to economic activity

A total of 65.3% of the population aged 16 to 64 was employed in the week prior to 1 January 2024, which is 0.3 percentage points more than in the previous year, according to the Population Census. By sex, the percentage was higher in men (67.4%) than in women (63.1%).

The counties with the highest percentage of employed persons were El Lluçanès (74.3%) and El Pla de l'Estany (73.1%), while the counties with the lowest percentage were L'Alt Urgell (56.7%) and La Selva (58.7%). The municipalities with the highest percentage were Lladurs (86.5%), Basella (84.9%) and Sant Agustí de Lluçanès (84.4%), while the municipalities with the lowest percentages were Lloret de Mar (43.3%), Tossa de Mar (46.8%) and Salou (48.6%).

By nationality, the employment rate for people aged 16 to 64 was 70.2% (0.7 percentage points higher than the previous year) for Spanish nationality and 47.9% for foreign nationality (0.1 percentage points lower than the previous year). By place of birth, the employment rate for people aged 16 to 64 was 71.1% for those born in Catalonia, 67.4% for those born in the rest of Spain, and 53.4% for those born abroad.

There were also 67,143 employed persons aged 65 or over 36,107 men and 31,036 women, compared to 60,905 a year earlier. 11.5% of people aged 65 to 69 were employed (13.3% of men and 10.0% of women), while in 2023 the percentage was 10.6%.

A total of 8.6% of the active population was unemployed in the week prior to 1 January 2024, which is 0.3 percentage points less than in the previous year. By sex, the percentage was higher among women (10.3%) than among men (7.1%). By nationality the percentage was 8.3% for Spaniards and 10.3% for foreigners. By place of birth, the percentage was 7.4% for those born in Catalonia, 11.4% for those born in the rest of Spain, and 10.8% for those born abroad

The counties with the highest percentage were El Baix Penedès (13.1%), L'Anoia (10.7%) and El Baix Camp and El Montsià (10.2% each), while the counties with the lowest percentage were Aran (2.4%), L'Alta Ribagorça (4.0%) and El Pallars Sobirà (4.3%). The municipalities with the highest percentage were Querol (20.8%) and El Montmell (19.5%) and the municipalities with the lowest percentage of unemployed active population were Naut Aran (1.6%) and Vielha e Mijaran (2.2%).

A total of 75.5% of the population aged 65 and over was a retirement pensioner in the week prior to 1 January 2024. By sex, the percentage was higher in men (90.0%) than in women (64.5%). For men, the counties with the highest percentage were La Terra Alta (94.7%) and Les Garrigues (94.5%), while the counties with the lowest percentage were La Cerdanya (81.8%) and L'Alt Empordà (82.4%). As for women, El Ripollès and El Lluçanès had the highest percentatges (82.9% each), while El Montsià (54.6%) and El Pla d’Urgell (55.3%) had the lowest percentages. The municipalities with the highest percentage were Montesquiu (93.9%) and Les Planes d'Hostoles (93.5%), while the municipalities with the lowest percentage were Darnius (60.9%) and Cadaqués (61.6%) .