The retreat is particularly notable among friends, where the exclusive use of Catalan has fallen to 15%, while Spanish prevails in 31% of cases. Two decades ago, both languages were tied in this area. As the main language of use (exclusive or dominant), Catalan now stands below 30% among friends, far behind the 41.7% recorded for Spanish.
Catalan has lost its status as the majority language in all analyzed areas, including small commerce, banking, and medical staff, where it previously exceeded 50% of speakers.
The drop in exclusive use is generalized. In the medical staff sector, the exclusive use of Catalan has fallen drastically from 41% to 26%, and in the banking environment, from nearly half of users to 27.7%. This decline is also evident in administrations, where exclusive use in the justice system is only 25%, the lowest level.
By territorial areas, although the metropolitan area remains the most limited, the regions of Girona and Ponent register the largest drops, exceeding 25 percentage points. In Girona, the habitual use of Catalan has fallen from 70% of the population in 2003 to around 45% in 2023. Only the Terres de l'Ebre (66.5%) and Catalunya Central (59.6%) maintain a higher presence, with the latter showing the least retreat.
The study also points to the growth in the use of other languages (moving from single to double digits in many areas) and the increase in the population identifying with both Catalan and Spanish simultaneously as their own languages, which has jumped from 5% to 14.6%. Furthermore, only 13.2% of speakers maintain Catalan when the interlocutor switches to Spanish, a figure lower than the 18.5% recorded two decades ago.
