Spanish GDP grew by faster than expected 0.5% in second quarter

MADRID – Spain’s gross domestic product grew by 0.5 percent in the second quarter, the National Institute of Statistics (INE) said on Friday. It revised its previous estimate of 0.4 percent growth, confirming a faster and stronger recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Spain’s Economy Ministry said in a statement that INE data shows the Spanish economy picked up speed in the second half of 2021, maintained momentum in early 2022 and surpassed pre-pandemic levels last year, like other major EU economies.

Previous data showed that the Spanish economy did not recover its pre-pandemic size until 2023.

Spain’s GDP grew by 2.2 percent in the April to June period from the same period a year ago, INE said, a faster pace than the 1.8 percent growth it had originally estimated.

INE also revised GDP growth for the first quarter of 2023 from 0.5 percent to quarter-on-quarter growth of 0.6 percent. Spanish annual growth remained unchanged at 4.2 percent in the first quarter.

READ: The French and Spanish economies grew in the second quarter, Germany stagnated

On Monday, INE revised Spain’s economic growth rate for 2022 from 5.5 percent to 5.8 percent after calculating final data, and made an upward revision to 2021 data to 6.4 percent growth from a previous 5.5 percent.

Employment, one of the main drivers of economic activity, has also been revised upwards.

The Bank of Spain warned this week that it expects a gradual slowdown in the economy, with growth of 0.3 percent in the third quarter of 2023 and annual growth of 2.3 percent, still faster than in other countries of the eurozone.