Spanish GDP up by 0.8 per cent in the first quarter

Data released by the Spanish government’s central statistics unit confirmed that the country’s economy grew by 0.8% during the first quarter of 2017, marking the 14th consecutive quarterly rise since the slump ended in 2013.

Due largely to increased consumer spending over the last twelve months, the annual growth rate of GDP now stands at a healthy if unspectacular 3%, and the figure of 1,124,476 million euros is at last above the level reached at the end of 2008 after an eight-year period of crisis and recovery.

These figures confirm the provisional data which were published at the end of April, and add further fuel to the optimism which last week saw the EU raise its forecast for economic growth in Spain this year by 0.5 points to 2.8%.

Source: Spain News Today, May 2017