Catalan gains more than 117,000 frequent speakers in a context of demographic growth

The Department of Language Policy and the Institute of Statistics of Catalonia (Idescat) have presented the results of their fifth edition of the Survey of Language Uses of the Population (EULP 2023), an official five-yearly study that provides information on the evolution of the use and knowledge of languages in Catalonia. The fieldwork was carried out between September 2023 and April 2024, using a representative sample of the population aged 15 or over.

Knowledge and use of Catalan

The EULP 2023 indicates that the number of people who know Catalan has grown in recent years. Between 2018 and 2023, Catalan gained 267,600 new speakers aged 15 or over, occurring in the context of a population increase of 398,500 people in the same period. Therefore, while the absolute number of people who know Catalan grew, the overall percentage of speakers of the language remained the same or fell slightly.

The survey shows an increase in the ability to understand, speak and write in Catalan compared to previous editions, and highlights a broad predisposition to learn or improve knowledge of the language. Currently, 93.4 % of the population aged 15 or over understand Catalan, 80.4 % can speak it, 84.1 % can read it and 65.6 % can write it. Despite this increase, the average knowledge of Catalan continues to be below the average for Spanish in all age groups.

Additionally, the survey also indicates that Catalan gained a minimum of 127,600 active speakers aged 15 or over between 2018 and 2023. These new speakers are users who combine Catalan with other languages in their daily lives. The growth shows that in an increasingly multilingual context, Catalan maintains a significant capacity to incorporate new speakers.

Initial language, usual language and language of identification

This survey shows that Catalan and Spanish as the only initial languages have decreased slightly: the percentage of people with Catalan as their initial language has gone from 31.5% in 2018 to 29.0 % in 2023, while Spanish as their initial language has gone from 52.7 % to 49.2 % in the same period. However, there has been an increase in people who have a combined initial language, Catalan and Spanish, which has gone from 2.8 % in 2018 to 5.6 % in 2023. People with an initial language other than Catalan and Spanish have also grown, going from 10.8 % to 11.7 %. Regarding intergenerational transmission, the transmission of Catalan from parents to children has increased by more than 7%.

The EULP 2023 has identified changes in the language of identification of the population aged 15 or over, with a reduction in unique identifications with Catalan or Spanish and a growth in combined identifications of two or more languages. Currently, 30 % of the population has Catalan as their unique language of identification, compared to 36.3 % registered in 2018. Similarly, unique identification with Spanish has gone from 46.6 % to 40.4 % in the same period. On the other hand, the proportion of people who identify with both Catalan and Spanish has increased from 6.9 % in 2018 to 14.6 % in 2023. People who identify with other language combinations have increased from 1.5 % to 5.8 %, pointing to the growth of developing multilingual identifications, similarly 7.9 % of people who identify only with other languages.

Regarding the usual language, Catalan appears to have decreased slightly with the number of speakers and going from 36.1% to 32.6 %. Spanish seems to have increased slightly in absolute terms but as a result of the growth of other options, it drops from 48.6 % to 46.5 % in relative terms. The option of Catalan and Spanish grew significantly in absolute terms and goes from 7.4% to 9.4%, as do the other language combinations, which go from 3 % to 5.6 %.

Additionally, the survey shows that in addition to regular speakers, there are more than 2.2 million people who use Catalan daily, although not the majority. These secondary speakers, who speak Catalan with different degrees of use, have grown substantially between 2018 and 2023: at least 117,000 people have joined the frequent use of Catalan.

Place of birth is confirmed as a fundamental variable for understanding linguistic use. Catalan is the initial, identifying and habitual language of the majority of the population born in Catalonia. Alone or in combination with other languages, it is the initial language of more than 56.8 %, the identifying language of 70.8 % and the habitual language of 64 % of this group. On the other hand, Spanish is predominant among people born in the rest of the country: it is the sole initial language of 84.5 %, the identifying language of 76.2 % and the habitual language of 77 %. Regarding those born abroad, two groups are found: those who speak Spanish, and the speakers of other languages. In terms of initial language, they have similar percentages (47 % who speak Spanish and 44 % speakers of other languages). In language of identification and usual language, the former remain in similar figures and the latter declare shared options between their language and Spanish.

Linguistic uses in different social areas

The survey also analysed language use in various areas of daily life. In most areas, the range of sole use of Spanish is the widest: it ranges between 23 % and 41 %. The areas where there is the most use of Catalan, either alone or in combination with other languages, are social relationships: nearly 60 % of the population speaks Catalan in these contexts. This is, for example, the case of work colleagues, where 61.5 % use Catalan to some degree, or in the area of friendships, where Catalan, alone or combined with other languages, reaches 58.7 %.

The areas where there is more intensive use of Catalan (only or more Catalan than other languages) are areas that ensure the linguistic training of staff or where there tends to be more staff educated in Catalonia and, therefore, offer more linguistic options to the user. These are, for example, local and autonomous administrations, the autonomous police (Mossos d’Esquadra) and the local police, followed by financial institutions, medical staff and small businesses.

To find out more about this survey it can be done so at the link here