The economy of Madrid grew by 2.7% in 2025, two tenths higher than Catalonia, and its GDP reached €337.216 billion compared to €319.985 billion for Catalonia. The difference between the two regions is the highest since the surpass in 2017.
The economy of the Community of Madrid closed 2025 with a gross domestic product of €337.216 billion, while that of Catalonia stood at €319.985 billion. The difference between the two regions amounts to €17.231 billion, the highest since 2017, when Madrid surpassed Catalonia as the leading regional economy in Spain, according to Regional Accounting data published by the INE and reported by elobservador.com.uy.
The annual growth also favoured Madrid. Its GDP advanced by 2.7% in 2025, one tenth above the national average and two tenths more than Catalonia's, which remained at 2.5%. In the last three years, Madrid's increase has outpaced Catalonia's, continuously widening the gap: in 2023 the distance was about €12.500 billion and in 2024 it was around €15.600 billion.
The relative gap has also widened. Madrid's GDP was 5.3% higher than Catalonia's in 2025. Regarding its share of the national total, Madrid approached 20% of Spain's GDP (specifically 19.95%), while Catalonia represented 18.9%. In 2016, both communities were around 19% each.
Among the causes of this evolution, the business exodus that has continued to affect Catalonia since 2017 has not stopped. Between January and June of last year, 143 more companies left the region than entered, according to the latest data from Informa D&B. Of the thousands of companies that left Catalonia since 2017, not even 8% have returned. This is compounded by a tax pressure higher than that of other communities, according to published information.
Madrid and Catalonia together account for 38.8% of the national GDP, but they were not the regions that grew the most in 2025. The largest increase was recorded by Murcia, with 3.8%, followed by Extremadura (3.2%) and La Rioja and Castilla y León, both with 3%. At the opposite end, Cantabria recorded the lowest growth (1.7%), ahead of Asturias and País Vasco, both at 1.9%.
The president of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, inaugurated in August 2024, announced an investment plan of €18.500 billion until 2030 to try to regain economic leadership, although the effects of that programme have yet to be reflected in the regional accounting figures.
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