Spanish economy is ok but could do better as 2019 figures revealed

THERE is some good news and bad news for the Spanish economy following a report published by the National Institute of Statistics (INE) which shows that it grew by 2 per cent in 2019.

The bad news is that government forecasts called for a 2.1 per cent increase but the good news is that the Bank of Spain and the International Monetary Fund got it spot on and the European Commission expected it to be as low as 1.9 per cent.

The figures are provisional and may vary slightly before being confirmed by the end of March but one thing is sure and that this is the slowest rate of growth for the economy since 2014.

For six years now the GDP has shown an increase but there is no doubt that the increase is slowing down and for 2020 and 2021, forecasts are suggesting that it will be static at 1.6 per cent each year.

Whilst exports continue to rise and help the figures dramatically, the home market is not just stagnant but is actually losing ground even though unemployment continues to reduce.

Construction seems to be the weakest link with a significant downturn even though skylines across the country are still dotted with high rise cranes so there is some fear that what appeared to be a thriving area in new builds could see over supply and subsequent excess housing stock.

Despite everything, most banks seem to be coining in the profits both at home and abroad and their activities have helped to keep the economy to rise.