Economic figures for the second quarter of 2021 released on Friday, September 17, show a strong recovery from 2020. However, comparisons with 2019 – before the onset of the coronavirus pandemic – demonstrate a net decline in turnover in almost all sectors.
Monaco’s Statistical Office (IMSEE) prefaced its latest report by remarking that the health situation in Monaco remains problematic as a result of the restrictions currently in place. Inevitably, this has had an impact on economic performance.
However, banking performed well in the first half of 2021. Bank assets increased by 10.2 percent compared to the same period of 2020. Loans increased in value by 7.2 percent whereas deposits declined slightly, at -0.8 percent.
In the second quarter of 2021, inflows of around 1.3 billion euros, combined with the positive impact of market and currency effects, show an increase in the amount of assets under management (+ 2.3%) over the period, IMSEE said.
In real estate, the number of sales of new apartments fell from four to three compared to the first half of 2020, but the value fell by 50 percent. Compared to 2019 the decline in value was even more marked, IMSEE said.
In resales, there is much better news, with 20 more transactions in the first six months of the year compared to 2020 (+10.4 percent) and stood higher than in the first half of 2019. However, the value of transactions decreased by 13.2 percent.
Tourism continues to struggle. “The share of Europeans remains in the majority (86.8 percent of tourists) due to worldwide travel restrictions,” the office said. This compares with 64.5 percent in the first half of 2019. Partly as a result of this factor, the hotel occupancy rate in this year’s first half was only 25.3 percent compared with 63.8 percent in 2019 and 22.7 percent in the first half of 2020.
