GDP grew 2.8% in the second quarter in Spain

THE Spanish economy is making its way towards a healthy recovery after a troublesome 18 months. 

Spain’s gross domestic product grew by 2.8% in the second quarter compared to the first three months of 2021. 

Preliminary data from the National Statistics Institute showed on Friday that the growth was faster than the 2.2% expected by analysts, after a 0.4% contraction in the first quarter. 

The boost comes as the Spanish government loosened its grip on most of the COVID-19 restrictions that limited business hours and travel. 

Household consumption and business investment are the main drivers of economic recovery in Spain, although government spending also helped. In this sense, households’ final consumption increased by 29.5% compared to last year, while investment recovered by 17.8% compared to the second quarter of 2020. In total, domestic consumption in Spain increased by 20.8% year-on-year.

In contrast, foreign trade continued to have a negative impact on GDP. Exports grew by 34.1% while imports grew by 36.8%, so the deficit of the Spanish economy with the rest of the world remained.

Earlier this week, the government maintained its economic growth forecast for the year at 6.5%.