In this article we use a novel approach to analyse the potential of Spanish renters who could afford to buy a property. For Spain as a whole, we estimate that around 49% of renters have a high enough income to purchase a home. However, only 13% have the necessary savings. While there are significant differences between provinces and municipalities, in all regions it is clear that insufficient savings capacity is the main constraint faced by renters to buying their own home.
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The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of the agrifood sector as a mainstay of the Spanish economy. During the months of lockdown, the entire food chain (which includes farmers, breeders, fishermen, cooperatives and the food industry, wholesalers, retailers, distributors and logistics operators) had to adapt quickly to secure the population's food supply. In retrospect, it is only fair to acknowledge the excellent response by the whole sector in tackling this challenge.
The hospitality sector was among those hardest hit by the consequences of the pandemic as it was at the epicentre of the social distancing measures used to contain the spread of COVID-19. Although official indicators point to the sector’s clear recovery in 2022, this has not been across the board. An analysis of CaixaBank’s internal data reveals the great differences that exist within the sector, with one part that has greatly improved its situation compared with 2019 and another, non-too negligible part that is still encountering difficulties.
The rental housing market has attracted a lot of attention in recent years. Its sharp price rises, much bigger than the increase in wage income, has highlighted the economic vulnerability of households living in rented accommodation. These households tend to have a lower-than-average income level and a high percentage of them spend more than 40% of their income on housing-related payments. To redress this worrying situation, much-needed economic policy measures have been taken to increase the supply of affordable housing. However, other types of policies have also been proposed, such as rent caps in stressed market areas, although their effectiveness is limited judging by experiences in other countries.
Technology is advancing at a frenetic pace and offers the agrifood chain a large number of opportunities to make its production more efficient and sustainable. Moreover, the arrival of COVID-19 has shown that the most digitalised companies were able to continue their activities more readily than the rest. In this article we examine the degree of popularity of the different digital technologies used in the primary sector and agrifood industry based on a text analysis of over 2 million tweets on Twitter. All these technologies are essential to create a connected ecosystem that will make up the Food Chain 4.0 of the future.
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The impact of the COVID-19 crisis on inequality in Spain
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The great green opportunity after COVID-19
The distribution of consumer spending over the month, a key question for understanding consumer behaviour, has not yet been studied in the depth it deserves because of the scarcity of high-frequency public data. How do consumers allocate their spending week by week? How much more do they spend at the beginning of the month, which is when most people are paid? Do we consume with the same intensity regardless of our age or our income? Thanks to the use of CaixaBank’s internal data on a daily frequence, we are able to carefully analyse the time patterns of consumption and answer these questions.
The recovery of economic activity is finally a tangible reality, clearly reflected in the main economic indicators. Having plummeted to more than 20% below the pre-pandemic level, by Q2 2021 GDP had recovered nearly two-thirds of the lost territory. But is the economic recovery reaching all pockets?
On balance, all the indicators suggest that growth in the euro area will experience a notable slowdown in Q4 due to the bottlenecks, although for the time being we are confident that the quarter-on-quarter growth rates will still be above their long-term average.
«It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future». This was said by a worldly man, Yogi Berra, and he's still absolutely right, especially at uncertain times like the present. This article attempts to explain why 2021 is going to be a very different year from 2020 and specifically in which aspects.
The coronavirus outbreak has made remote work popular and fuelled debate regarding its impact on society and our way of life. However, the concept of working from home is not new; in fact, it was the norm for a large number of workers until well into the 19th century.
But for once, to start the year on a good footing, permit me to dare to highlight what is going well, and the things that can go even better, of which there are plenty.
One of the sectors hardest hit by the restrictions on people's movement has been retail trade. However, internet sales are helping many businesses to cushion the impact of the crisis. This article examines the trend in online purchases in relation to face-to-face sales paid for by card via CaixaBank point-of-sale terminals.
Where will inflation in advanced economies lie when the cycle that began with COVID-19, and which has continued with the war in Ukraine, comes to an end and what will happen with inflation targets?
Spain included 28.4 billion euros from the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism, NGEU’s main instrument, in the 2022 General Government Budget. Have expectations been met? Are the investments and reforms being implemented as planned?
Meeting climate targets depends heavily on public and private investment and their effects on the development of new technologies. Therefore, much of the economic momentum since COVID has focused on encouraging this ecological transition. In this article, we explore how the US government and, above all, the European Union and its Member States are incentivising it.
Having overcome the crisis triggered by the pandemic, which caused debt-to-GDP levels to skyrocket, debt ratios have now resumed the downward trajectory they were on prior to COVID. In particular, in the private sector, both businesses and households already have lower levels of debt than before the pandemic and much lower than they had during the financial crisis of 2008. All this, together with the greater weight of fixed-rate debt, puts them in a less vulnerable position to cope with the rise in interest rates.
On the eve of Black Friday, we analyse online consumption in Spain by sector and age group using anonymised internal CaixaBank data.
We expect growth in economic activity to pick up in Q2, when the most vulnerable people should have been immunised and international travel can recover more strongly, with growth in the Spanish economy reaching around 6.0% in 2021.