Catalan is no longer the majority language in all social spheres of Catalonia, according to the latest Survey of Linguistic Uses published in 2025. The data show a sustained reduction in the exclusive use of Catalan, especially in urban environments and among the young population
Generalized decline in the social use of Catalan
Only 15% of citizens speak exclusively in Catalan with friends, the lowest figure in the last twenty years. Spanish is imposed as the main language in 41.7% of friend groups, while Catalan is dominant in 29%. Two decades ago, both languages were tied in this area.
The trend is repeated in other daily spaces. The main use of Catalan with neighbors is 31.6%, with colleagues at work 32%, and among fellow students 36.4%. In small businesses, Catalan is the main language in 36.6% of cases, and in large businesses only in 30%
Reduction of exclusive use in services and administrations
The percentage of medical personnel who use only Catalan has gone from 41% to 26%. In the banking environment, the exclusive use of Catalan has dropped to 27.7%. In large retail, the figure has fallen to less than 16%, and in small retail to less than 20%Regarding public services, the exclusive linguistic use of Catalan is 25% in justice, 30.1% with the State administration, 39.5% with local police or Mossos d'Esquadra, 43.7% with the Generalitat and 47.4% with local administration
Data by territories and generations
The metropolitan area registers only 24.7% of the population that has Catalan as their exclusive language of use. In the Girona regions, in 2023 the habitual use of Catalan was around 45% of the population, when twenty years ago it was 70%. In Ponent, habitual use is 51%, twenty-five points less than two decades ago. Les Terres de l'Ebre maintain 66.5% of inhabitants who exclusively use Catalan, 23 points less than in 2003. Central Catalonia has 59.6% of habitual Catalan speakersThe percentage of people who maintain Catalan in a conversation when their interlocutor responds in Spanish has fallen from 18.5% twenty years ago to 13.2% currently. Among those over 65 years old, 19.6% maintain the language in a conversation, compared to 25.8% twenty years ago. Young people aged 15 to 29 do so in 11.2%, and those aged 30 to 44 in 9.4%
Conversation start and attitudes towards the future
Only 22.4% of citizens over 15 years of age initiate conversations in Catalan, two points less than in 2018. In the metropolitan area, only 15% of the population always initiates the conversation in Catalan and almost a third never do. In Terres de l'Ebre, more than 55% of the population always initiates the conversation in Catalan, in the central regions almost half and in Alt Pirineu i Aran more than 40%The percentage of respondents who state they do not intend to use Catalan in the future has gone from 19.7% to 29.6% in a decade. The percentage of people who would like to speak only Catalan or more Catalan than Spanish has fallen from 34% to 27.8%
Perception of the unity of the language
The percentage of interviewees who consider that the speech of the Balearic Islands, the Valencian Country, Andorra, and Catalonia is the same language has gone from 75% in 2008 to the current 70.4%. The percentage of people who disagree with this has risen from 5.9% to 9.3%
- Catalan has lost its status as the majority language in all analyzed areas compared to twenty years ago
- 31% of citizens interact only in Spanish with friends
- The exclusive use of Catalan with colleagues is 16.7%
- The percentage of respondents who do not want to use Catalan in the future has risen by almost ten points in a decade