Spain: Economy continues to grow robustly in Q4, expands at fastest pace since 2007 last year

The Spanish economy continued to grow robustly in the final quarter of 2015, as the country remains firmly entrenched on the path of recovery after years of recession. GDP expanded a seasonally-adjusted 0.8% in Q4 2015 over the previous quarter, according to preliminary data released by the National Statistics Office (INE) on 29 January. The expansion matched Q3’s result and FocusEconomics’ panelists expectations. The performance marked the 10th consecutive quarter of growth.

On an annual basis, GDP expanded 3.5% in Q4, which represented a slight improvement over the 3.4% increase recorded in the previous quarter and marked the largest expansion since Q4 2007. For the full year 2015, Spain’s economy picked up pace and expanded at the fastest pace since 2007. GDP growth came in at 3.2%, which was a notable improvement from 2014’s 1.4% increase. The National Statistics Office (INE) will release more detailed data on 25 February.

The Central Bank expects the economy to grow 2.8% in 2016. FocusEconomics Consensus Forecast panelists expect GDP to expand 2.7% in 2016, which is unchanged from last month’s forecast. In 2017, panelists expect the economy to expand 2.4%.