In spite of vs despite

despite  
preposition

without being affected by; in spite of.
"he remains a great leader despite age and infirmity"

synonyms: in spite of, notwithstanding, regardless of, in defiance of, without being affected by, in the face of, for all, even with, undeterred by
"he was forced to step down as mayor despite his popularity with voters"
antonyms: because of


In spite of and despite have a similar meaning to although or even though.
They express a contrast between two things. They are both more common in writing than in speaking.

Despite is a little more formal than in spite of.

We usually use in spite of and despite with a noun:

He got the job in spite of his prison record.
[recession is a time when the economy of a country is not good]

John’s company is doing extremely well despite the recession.

We can also use in spite of and despite with -ing:

He was very fast in spite of being terribly overweight.
They arrived late despite leaving in plenty of time.

Warning:
We don’t use a that-clause after in spite of or despite. We use in spite of the fact that or despite the fact that:

When they arrived at Malaga it was hot, in spite of the fact that it was only the end of April.
Not: … in spite of that it was only the end of April

In spite of is written as three separate words. We never use of with despite:
They enjoyed the rides in spite of the long queues. (or … despite the long queues.)
Not: … inspite the long queues or … despite of the long queues.