SPAIN’S economy grew by 0.7% in the first quarter of 2024 in contrast to sluggish GDP figures in other European Countries.
The National Institute of Statistics(INE) published the figures on Tuesday which showed the GDP rate grew by the same rate over the last two quarters.
Economic analysts are looking forward to a good summer- helped by a big influx of foreign tourists- and believe GDP growth will close the year at over 2%.
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In fact, in a year-on-year comparison, GDP accelerated to 2.4% compared to 2.1% in the previous quarter and is now the highest in the last year.
All economic branches of activity showed positive growth in the first months of 2024, although the manufacturing industry stands out, with an increase of 2.2%.
Investment has also risen- going up by 2.6% compared to the previous quarter, with a contribution to growth of 0.5%.
The improvement has been dramatic in capital goods, with a growth of 3.7%, although investment in housing fell by 0.25% compared to the last quarter of last year.
Miguel Cardoso, chief economist for Spain at BBVA Research, explains that a large part of this boost can also be explained by the positive contribution of the services sector, mainly exports – which posted a positive rate of 2.4% compared to the previous quarter.
There was also a substantial rise in spending by foreign tourists.
International visitors consumed 25% more in January and February this year than in the same period in 2023.
It means they contributed almost €13.3 billion to the economy, according to data from the INE.
With March still to be added, experts predict a record year for the tourism industry will wipe out losses caused by the Covid pandemic, but will also the gap with France, which leads as the most popular destination for foreign tourists.
Manuel Hidalgo, professor of economics at the Pablo de Olavide University, says Spain’s strong tourism development is encouraging price rises in the sector.
In February, hotels and hostels charged 9% more than a year earlier, while campsites and youth hostels upped rates by almost 6%, while the INE says national tourist package costs leapt up by 18.7%.
