The services sector (3.3 %) is driving a rise in the primary sector (2.6 %) and construction (1.2 %) are also contributing.

This dynamism is reflected in an increase in employment in all sectors, reaching record figures.

The economy of the Balearic Islands experienced strong growth in the second quarter of this year with an increase of 2.9%. This is reflected in the Analysis of the Balearic Islands for the third quarter of 2024, which was presented today by the Vice President of the Government, Antoni Costa, and the Director General of Economy and Statistics, Catalina Barceló. In this way, the Balearic Islands maintains a continued path of growth compared to the same period last year, with a figure equal to the Spanish average and well above the European average, which is +0.8%.

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The economy of the Balearic Islands grew by 2.9% in the second quarter

The growth by islands has been quite similar in this second quarter: 3 % in Mallorca, 2.8 % in Menorca and 2.3 % in the Pitiusas. Once again, the services sector spearheaded this economic dynamism, with an improvement of 3.3 %. The primary sector (2.6 %) and construction (1.2 %) also contributed to the growth, while industry and energy fell by 3.5 %.

All this dynamism is reflected in an increase in employment in all sectors, leading to record highs. The labour market remains robust and at record highs, with 636,870 registered, after a record August in the services sector (542,808 registered after a year-on-year increase of 3.8 %) and in construction (59,025 registered, up 1.7 % on last year). There are also increases in industry (2.5 %) and in the primary sector (0.8 %).

The overall figures for the services sector are dynamic, with turnover increasing by 6.5 % and triple that of Spain. However, retail trade sales continue to fall, with a drop of 0.6 % up to July, while the Spanish average improved by 1.4 %.

The cumulative tourist expenditure up to July has reached new records (12,406 M€), with an increase of 13.6% compared to 2023 and an average expenditure per person per day of 191 euros, the highest in the last nine years. The variation of this figure since 2016 has experienced a growth of 44.6%.

The number of tourists (5.8%) and total overnight stays (6.1%) also grew. Up to July, 10.7 million visitors arrived, with an increase of 7 % in foreign tourists. The average stay was 6.1 days. Similarly, passenger transport grew by 6.6 % up to June, basically due to the increase in air travel (7.4 %), although there was also an improvement in arrivals by sea (2.5 %).

Construction remains active, with the residential segment achieving levels similar to those of 2018. Housing projects approved in the first half of the year fell (-1.4%) to reach levels similar to 2019 (1,519 dwellings), which is also the case for sales and purchases, which fell by 14.5%, with a 12.4% drop in the annual change in second-hand housing transactions. Free housing continues to rise, with a growth of 6 % in the first half of the year.

For its part, the industry weakened with a 7.1% drop in production up to July, while the national average in the same period experienced a growth of 0.9%. Likewise, electricity demand fell by 1.3% compared to last year, although the weight of renewable generation increased from 4.4% in 2019 to 11.8% in 2024. In addition, in the first half of the year, a surplus of 450 million euros was recorded in foreign trade, representing a 4.6% growth in exports – which reached record figures – and a 1.9% drop in imports.

Finally, Costa wanted to highlight circularity and waste management as ‘some of the key challenges we must face’. ‘We must reduce the generation of waste and maintain the path achieved in this regard, which has allowed us to reduce it by 7.8% in just five years,’ said Costa, who pointed out that each citizen of the Balearic Islands generates an average of 1.5 kilos of waste per day. In total, this amounts to 521 kilos per year. ‘Faced with these figures, we can only continue to promote recycling and reuse,’ added Costa. It should be remembered that only 23% of waste in the Balearic Islands is recycled, a figure far below the Spanish average (39%) and the European average (49%).