The coronavirus pandemic has caused a 20 year setback in the Balearic Economy in just 9 months and the Islands are likely to be one of the hardest hit places in Europe and possibly the world.
The Balearic Government has reduced its Gross Domestic Product forecast from 28.8% to 25.4% which means the per capita wealth of the citizens on the Islands will drop from 28,143 euros in 2019 to 20,994 at the close of this year, which is about the same as the year 2000.
Global decline
In terms of global GDP the fall is 14 years, which means the Balearic economy would return to what it was in 2006.
At the end of 2019 overall wealth in the Balearic Islands was 33,716 million euros, but this year it will plummet to 25,152 million.
GDP per capita falls further because the wealth of the Community is divided by the number of inhabitants and when the Balearic population increases GDP decreases.
The bleak economic forecast for the Balearic Islands has been endorsed by the Independent Authority for Fiscal Responsibility, or AIReF, a reputed body for the control of public accounts that subscribes to the Government's forecasts.
Autonomous Communities
AIReF has yet to calculate how all the Autonomous Communities will end the year, but it has presented statistical data on the fall in wealth up until September. It found a 21.3% fall in the Balearic Islands and 13.4% in the Canary Islands, compared to a 5% drop in Cantabria, Castilla y León and Galicia and 4.3% in Murcia.
The difference in declining GDP has completely changed the ranking of richer and poorer communities, particularly for the Balearic Islands which was sixth in Spain in March 2020 and six months later slumped to number 11.
The three richest communities in the country are Madrid, the Basque Country and Navarre. Andalucia replaces Extremadura as the poorest Community in Spain closely followed by the Canary Islands.