International tourists spent 713 million euros in Catalonia this past January, nearly 18% more than the amount spent during the same period last year. According to data released by the Spanish Statistics Institute (INE), Catalonia is the only region in Spain in which the average expenditure per person grew in the first month of 2016.

 

Tourists arriving in Catalonia from outside the Spanish state spent, on average, 958 euros per person, while daily expenditure rose to 159 euros per person, a 16.7% and 1.3% increase on January 2015, respectively. This means that although visitors spent fewer days in the first month of the year in Catalonia, in monetary terms individuals spent more in less time. Specifically, the average tourist spent six days in Catalonia (13% less than January 2014) but their average expenditure was much higher on an individual basis.

 

In Spain as a whole, international tourists spent more than 3.7 billion euros in January, which, despite representing a 3.6% increase on the same month of last year, is much lower than the rise registered across Catalonia.