Economy of Spain

Economy of Spain
Cuatro Torres Business Area in Madrid
CurrencyEuro (EUR, €)
1 euro = 166.386 Spanish peseta
Calendar year
Trade organisations
EU, WTO and OECD
Country group
Statistics
PopulationIncrease 48,946,035[5]
GDP
GDP rank
GDP growth
  • Increase 6.4% (2021)[7]
  • Increase 5.8% (2022)[7]
  • Increase 2.5% (2023)[7]
  • Increase 2.9% (2024f)[7]
  • Increase 2.1% (2025f)[7]
  • Increase 1.8% (2026f)[7]
GDP per capita
  • Increase $35,789 (nominal; 2024)[6]
  • Increase $55,089 (PPP; 2024)[6]
GDP per capita rank
GDP by sector
Increase 3.4% (June 2024)[9]
Population below poverty line
  • 27% at risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE 2023)[10]
31.5 medium (2023)[11]
Decrease 60 out of 100 points (2023)[13] (36th)
Labour force
  • Increase 24,107,955 (2023)[14]
  • Increase 70.5% employment rate (2023)[15]
Labour force by occupation
  • agriculture: 4%
  • industry: 24%
  • services: 72%
  • (2009)[16]
Unemployment
  • Positive decrease 11.27% (July 2024)[17]
  • Positive decrease 27% youth unemployment (15 to 24 year-olds; April 2024)[18]
Average gross salary
€2,471 per month
€1,910 per month
Main industries
[19][20]
External
ExportsIncrease $534 billion (2019 est.)[16]
Export goods
Machinery, motor vehicles; foodstuffs, pharmaceuticals, medicines, other consumer goods
Main export partners
ImportsIncrease $463 billion (2019 est.)[16]
Import goods
Fuels, chemicals, semi-finished goods, foodstuffs, consumer goods, machinery and equipment, measuring and medical control instruments
Main import partners
FDI stock
  • Increase $825 billion (31 December 2017 est.)[16]
  • Increase Abroad: $777 billion (31 December 2017 est.)[16]
Increase $30 billion (2019 est.)[16]
Negative increase $2.1 trillion (31 December 2017 est.)[16]
Public finances
  • Decrease 106.5% of GDP (2024)[21]
  • Negative increase €1.6 trillion (Q2 2024)[22]
  • €35 billion deficit (2019)[23]
  • −2.8% of GDP (2019)[23]
Revenues39% of GDP (2019)[23]
Expenses42% of GDP (2019)[23]
Economic aid
Increase $79 billion (November 2020 est.)[16]
All values, unless otherwise stated, are in US dollars.

The economy of Spain is a highly developed social market economy.[29] It is the world's 15th largest by nominal GDP and the sixth-largest in Europe. Spain is a member of the European Union and the eurozone, as well as the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development and the World Trade Organization. In 2023, Spain was the 18th-largest exporter in the world. Meanwhile, in 2022, Spain was the 15th-largest importer in the world. Spain is listed 27th in the United Nations Human Development Index and 36th in GDP per capita by the World Bank. Some main areas of economic activity are the automotive industry, medical technology, chemicals, shipbuilding, tourism and the textile industry. Among OECD members, Spain has a highly efficient and strong social security system, which comprises roughly 23% of GDP.[4][30][3]

During the Great Recession, Spain's economy was also in a recession. Compared to the EU and US averages, the Spanish economy entered recession later, but stayed there longer. The boom of the 2000s was reversed, leaving over a quarter of Spain's workforce unemployed by 2012. In aggregate, GDP contracted almost 9% during 2009–2013.[31] In 2012, the government officially requested a credit from the European Stability Mechanism to restructure its banking sector in the face of the crisis.[32] The ESM approved assistance and Spain drew €41 billion. The ESM programme for Spain ended with the full repayment of the credit drawn 18 months later.[33]

The economic situation started improving by 2013. By then, Spain managed to reverse the record trade deficit which had built up during the boom years.[34] It attained a trade surplus in 2013, after three decades of running a deficit.[34][35] In 2015, GDP grew by 3.2%: a rate not seen since 2007.[36][37] In 2014–2015, the economy recovered 85% of the GDP lost during the 2009–2013 recession.[38] This success led some analysts to refer to Spain's recovery as "the showcase for structural reform efforts".[39] Spain's unemployment fell substantially from 2013 to 2017. Real unemployment is much lower, as millions work in the grey market, people who count as unemployed yet perform jobs.[40] Real Spanish GDP may be around 20% bigger, as it is assumed the underground economy is annually 190 billion Euros (US$224 billion).[41] Among high income European countries, only Italy and Greece are believed to have larger underground economies. Thus Spain may have higher purchasing power as well as a smaller gini coefficient[42] (inequality measure), than shown in official numbers.

The 2020 pandemic hit the Spanish economy with more intensity than other countries, as foreign tourism accounts for 5% of GDP. In the first quarter of 2023, it had fully recovered from the downturn, its GDP reaching pre-pandemic levels.[43] In 2023, Spain's economy grew 2.5%, bucking a downturn in the euro zone as a whole,[44] and is expected to grow at 2.9% in 2024.

  1. ^ "World Economic Outlook Database, April 2019". IMF.org. International Monetary Fund. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  2. ^ "World Bank Country and Lending Groups". datahelpdesk.worldbank.org. World Bank. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  3. ^ a b "Social Expenditure – Aggregated data". OECD.
  4. ^ a b Kenworthy, Lane (1999). "Do Social-Welfare Policies Reduce Poverty? A Cross-National Assessment" (PDF). Social Forces. 77 (3): 1119–1139. doi:10.2307/3005973. JSTOR 3005973. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 August 2013.
  5. ^ "Continuous Population Statistics (CPS). 1st october 2024. Provisional data". ine.es. Retrieved 7 November 2024.
  6. ^ a b c d "Report for Selected Countries and Subjects: October 2024". imf.org. International Monetary Fund.
  7. ^ a b c d e f "IMF Executive Board Concludes 2024 Article IV Consultation with Spain". International Monetary Fund. 6 June 2024.
  8. ^ "INE". Retrieved 20 December 2022.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference INE-inflation was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ "People at risk of poverty or social exclusion". ec.europa.eu/eurostat. Eurostat.
  11. ^ "Gini coefficient of equivalised disposable income - EU-SILC survey". ec.europa.eu. Eurostat.
  12. ^ a b "Human Development Report 2023/2024" (PDF). United Nations Development Programme. 13 March 2024. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 March 2024. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
  13. ^ "Corruption Perceptions Index". Transparency International. 30 January 2024. Archived from the original on 30 January 2024. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  14. ^ "Labor force, total - Spain". data.worldbank.org. World Bank. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
  15. ^ "Employment rate by sex, age group 20-64". ec.europa.eu/eurostat. Eurostat. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  16. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "CIA World Factbook". CIA.gov. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
  17. ^ "Economically Active Population Survey. Second Quarter 2024". INE Instituto Nacional de Estadística. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
  18. ^ "Unemployment in Spain". DatosMacro. Retrieved 15 June 2024.
  19. ^ "Home". The Global Guru. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
  20. ^ "Economic report" (PDF). Bank of Spain. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 July 2008. Retrieved 13 August 2008.
  21. ^ "Spain: In-Depth Review 2024" (PDF). European Commission. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  22. ^ "Debt according to the Excessive Deficit Procedure (EDP)" (PDF). bde.es/webbde/es/estadis/infoest/temas/te_deu.html (in Spanish). Bank of Spain. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  23. ^ a b c d "Euro area and EU27 government deficit both at 0.6% of GDP" (PDF). ec.europa.eu/eurostat. Eurostat. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  24. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 December 2017. Retrieved 25 December 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  25. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 April 2017. Retrieved 25 December 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  26. ^ "Sovereigns rating list". Standard & Poor's. Retrieved 26 May 2011.
  27. ^ a b c Rogers, Simon; Sedghi, Ami (15 April 2011). "How Fitch, Moody's and S&P rate each country's credit rating". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 28 May 2011.
  28. ^ "Scope upgrades Spain's long-term credit ratings to A and changes the Outlook to Stable". Scope Ratings. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
  29. ^ Official report on Spanish recent Macroeconomics, including tables and graphics (PDF), La Moncloa, archived from the original (PDF) on 26 July 2008, retrieved 13 August 2008
  30. ^ Moller, Stephanie; Huber, Evelyne; Stephens, John D.; Bradley, David; Nielsen, François (2003). "Determinants of Relative Poverty in Advanced Capitalist Democracies". American Sociological Review. 68 (1): 22–51. doi:10.2307/3088901. JSTOR 3088901.
  31. ^ "El PIB español sigue sin recuperar el volumen previo a la crisis" (in Spanish). Expansión. 6 February 2016. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
  32. ^ "Spain". 23 April 2016.
  33. ^ "Spain | European Stability Mechanism". esm.europa.eu. 23 April 2016. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  34. ^ a b Bolaños, Alejandro (28 February 2014). "España logra en el año 2013 el primer superávit exterior en tres décadas". El País.
  35. ^ Bolaños, Alejandro (29 February 2016). "El superávit exterior de la economía española supera el 1,5% del PIB en 2015". El País (in Spanish). ISSN 1134-6582. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
  36. ^ "Spanish economy: Spanish economy grew 3.2% in 2015 | Economy and Business | EL PAÍS English Edition". 29 January 2016.
  37. ^ "Fitch Affirms Spain at 'BBB+'; Outlook Stable". Reuters. 29 January 2016.
  38. ^ Cite error: The named reference RazónEspañarecuperaPIB was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  39. ^ Cite error: The named reference TelegraphSpainSuperstar was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  40. ^ "La economía sumergida mueve más de cuatro millones de empleos". 25 January 2016.
  41. ^ "La economía sumergida en España, cerca del 20% del PIB". Archived from the original on 19 October 2017. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
  42. ^ "España sigue entre los países con más economía sumergida". Archived from the original on 2 April 2019. Retrieved 15 December 2017.
  43. ^ "UPDATE 2-Spain's economy returns to pre-pandemic levels in first quarter". Reuters. 23 June 2023. Retrieved 6 November 2023.
  44. ^ "Economic forecast for Spain". economy-finance.ec.europa.eu. Retrieved 3 November 2023.