Monaco en Chiffres 2021 explained for MEB

The Monaco Economic Board held a breakfast talk with Sophie Vincent on Thursday 24 June. The Director of the Monegasque Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (IMSEE) gave the 80 MEB members and officials present some intriguing insights into key figures contained in the latest annual Monaco en Chiffres* publication.

“A true barometer of the Principality,” is how MEB Chairman Michel Dotta introduced Monaco en Chiffres 2021, which inevitably bore all the hallmarks of “an exceptionally sad year” marked by the global pandemic. All the conventional indicators* are there but with a whole new chapter dedicated to the Covid-19 effect.

As well as tracking how the pandemic evolved, through the number of those testing positive and hospitalisations (broken down by age and sex), it also charts the government’s support packages introduced to buoy up the economy. “We worked on the premise that we were providing statistical testimony of this period for posterity,” the Director Sophie Vincent explained. With revenue (excluding the financial sector) totally €14 billion, slightly down on the 2018 figure, international trade in the Principality was understandably impacted by Covid. “However, three sectors saw their turnover increasing: scientific and technical activities, and business support services (+23.4%), real estate (+19.2%) and construction (+5.3%)”.

Regards jobs and employment, while the public sector continued to recruit, figures were down in the private sector, “an unprecedented fact” according to Sophie Vincent. To calculate variations in employment as accurately as possible, IMSEE took into account the CCTR as well as the number of hours worked (down -14% in 2020).

The IMSEE Director also talked about other consequences of the health crisis: the drop in number of real estate transactions for example, and in the overall occupancy rate in the hotel sector which did not get above 30%.

Sophie Vincent ended on a positive note, reminding the audience of the Principality’s ambitious cultural policy. “Culture, the second most affected sector in Europe as a whole, was down by 54% and yet theatres remained open, generating sales and employment [in Monaco], proof that in Monaco we can do bespoke.” Questioned by the audience, Sophie Vincent said an important lesson had been learned: “Data has become a central element in understanding the crisis, its impact and how to manage it. Yet a statistic is only sound if it is contextualised with the neutrality assured by an independent, neutral institute”.  

At the end of the talk, participants were presented with their own copies of Monaco en Chiffres 2021, a mine of information for MEB members as the post-Covid recovery gets underway.

The next in-person MEB event: AGM coupled with the Members Rendezvous on 7 July

*Territory and environment, Population, Economy, Transport & mobility, Living conditions and society, Monaco in its regional and international environment. New indicators have been introduced like protection of rights, liberty and mediation.

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I MEB press contacts: Delphine Quilichini / Benoît Ulrich : presse@meb.mc

I Photo credits: MEB/Carte Blanche