A preview of the Monaco in Figures 2024 data for the MEB

On Thursday 20th June, the day of the official launch of Monaco in figures 2024, Alexandre Bubbio, Director of the Monegasque Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (Monaco Statistics) and his team unveiled a preview of the main economic data from the new edition of the Institute's compendium. It was a highly informative presentation.

It's a tradition that the Monaco Economic Board looks forward to every year with renewed pleasure: the preview presentation of the main figures for the past year produced by IMSEE, taken from the annual reference publication Monaco in Figures (Monaco en Chiffres).

The first aspect highlighted concerned employment. In 2023, there were 73,707 jobs, most salaried, representing an increase of 3.4% compared to 2022 and 24% in 10 years. Compared with 2022, the Information and Communications sector saw the biggest increase in the number of employees. Companies increasingly have to look for talent outside Monaco and neighbouring towns to ensure their growth and honour their contracts. Nice is the leading city for commuters to reside in. In terms of gross full-time equivalent salaries, there has been a marked increase over the past year, with a median salary of €3,256 and an average salary of €4,841, up 5.2% in 2022.

On the economic front, the figures for public finances are very positive, with a budget surplus of €126.3 million in 2023 and a Constitutional Reserve Fund (the Principality's famous nest egg) of €7 billion, representing an increase of 8.4% on 2022 and 53% in 10 years. The same applies to GDP, which will grow by 11.1% between 2021 and 2022 and 49.7% in a decade. The post-Covid rebound has been particularly vigorous, thanks to Monaco's many major construction projects. Internationally, trade (excluding France) is close to the record set in 2019, with, unsurprisingly, Italy as the leading customer and supplier (around 20% of total trade). Business start-ups are flourishing, with the number of establishments in the Principality now standing at a record 11,669, as is total turnover, which has reached €20.2 billion (excluding financial and insurance activities).

Among the new indicators, Pascal Ferry, Deputy Director, presented the results of the Manufacturing Industry barometer. In 2023, optimism was high at the start of the year but then eased off before picking up again at the end of the year. A similar trend emerged in the Retail barometer.

Finally, the focus was on the new method of calculating the population census, an essential indicator for forward planning. The IMSEE team can now estimate this figure each year based on the registers. On 31st December 2023, 38,367 people lived in the Principality.

No stranger to statistics, the Director of IMSEE (Monaco Statistics) even offered some bonus data for the first quarter of 2024. The figures are rather promising, particularly in the long term, if the increase in the number of jobs is anything to go by—up by 2,851 in one year—a sign of a certain confidence in the future on the part of the Principality's employers.