Andorra is a small landlocked country within the heart of the Pyrenees mountains. It has approximately 80.000 inhabitants. The most populated parish is Andorra La Vella where the capital city is located, with a population of approximately 26.000 inhabitants, the parish of Ordino is the least populated parish with a population of approximately 4.000 inhabitants.
Deciding in what parish to live can be a complicated decision when moving to the country. The capital city is always bustling with shoppers during the day but quietens down at night.
Andorra has seven parishes: Canillo, Encamp, Ordino, La Massana, Andorra la Vella, Sant Julia de Loria and Escaldes Engordany. 5% of the population lives in Canillo, 15% in Encamp, 6% in Ordino, 13% in La Massana, 30% in Andorra La Vella, 12% in Sant Julia de Loria and 19% live in Escaldes-Engordany.
In 2016, more than 8.000.000 tourists visited our country. Tourists come from all over the world and enter from both the Spanish and French borders to ski, shop, hike or just to enjoy the local sights and restaurants.
The service industry accounts for 80% of Andorra’s GDP. Tourism experiences a large growth during the weekends, bank holidays, Christmas and Easter. The country’s heavy investment in infrastructure makes it especially apt at dealing with these waves of visitors. Restaurants offering every type of cuisine can be found, along with a cinema, shopping malls, escape rooms, pubs, a nature themed park, spas and many more entertainment activities.
There is no Airport in Andorra, the nearest Airports are in Barcelona and Girona on the Spanish side and Toulouse on the French side. To access the country the Spanish or French borders must be crossed. There are various local bus companies with routes from every nearby airport and train station. Here at L.A. Administració we would be happy to organize any itineraries to enter or leave the country when needed, we also work with moving companies and can help to organize all the necessary border paperwork to bring your belongings into the country.
The banking sector is also a big part of the economy. There are four national banks offering financial services: Morabanc, Credit Andorra, Vallbanc and Andbank. For many years Andorra was a tax heaven, but due to recent law changes in both transparency and financial legislature the country now offers attractive investment opportunities. It is now possible for foreign countries to fully own their businesses. Income tax was introduced in 2015, Residents are required to pay 10% personal worldwide income tax. This low tax is encouraging many people to move to the country. For more information on banking and financial services please do not hesitate to contact us by clicking here.
Although the euro is used in the country, Andorra is not part of the European Union, but it does benefit from a special membership. This means that there are custom checks at the borders mainly due to the large price difference on many products between the country and its neighbours. In practice, Andorra follows the Schengen visa requirements and visitors are required to have a multiple entry visa to enter and leave the country.
Some key statistics about Andorra:
- The population density of Andorra is 160 inhabitants per square kilometre.
- The average age in Andorra is 40 years old.
- 49% of the population are Andorran, 25% are Spanish, 12% are Portuguese and 4% are French.
- The minimum salary is over 1,000 euros a month.
- The largest exported products from Andorra are electronic products, followed rather closely by transportation products.
- Most tourism comes from the Spanish border (68%) but it is close with the French border (32%).
- The average price for a day ski-pass in one of the ski stations is between 30 to 50 euros.
- Over 1.400 establishments are open year-round except for four days: New Year’s Day, the 14th of March: Constitution day, the 8th of September: our Lady of Meritxell day: the patron saint of Andorra and the 25th of December: Christmas day.
- A GDP of 1,9% in 2016.
- A Standard and Poor’s rating of A-2 in 2017.
- Over 700 new company licenses were granted in 2017 bringing Over 82.000.000 euros of new capital into the country. Most foreign investment comes from Spain and France and the main industry to be invested in is the service industry. Although there are large investments made into commercial enterprises, construction and real estate.
- Over 40% of residencies were approved in 2017.
- The whole country has fibre optic coverage, making it an ideal location for internet-based businesses and remote workers.
- Height of Andorra: Capital city, Andorra la Vella: 1,023 meters above sea level, making it the highest Capital in Europe.
- The highest mountain of Andorra is the Coma Pedrosa at 2,942 metres above sea level.
- Catalan is the official language, but Spanish and French are widely spoken.
- Andorra has two co-princes: the President of France and the Bishop d’ Urgell. It is the world’s only Co-Principality.
All the statistics on this page are based on Andorra´s official department of statistics