Not even the uncertainty caused by Donald Trump’s chaotic commercial policy has made Mulla Mulla in the Spanish economy. The GDP of our country grew 0.7% in the second quarter of the year, according to the national accounting data published on Tuesday the National Statistics Institute (INE). If an interannual comparison is made (compared to the same period of 2024), Spain continues to grow with 2.8%.
As in the previous quarter, in which GDP increased 0.6%, domestic demand, with consumption and investment, has been the protagonist of good data. The national demand maintains the upward trend supported mainly on the consumption of families, with a rhythm of 0.8%.
“Spain continues to lead the growth between the main economies of the euro zone and will be the most growing in this 2025, without macroeconomic imbalances, in a context of moderate international growth and high uncertainty,” they said from the Ministry of Economy.
In this way, national demand contributed 0.9 points to growth, becoming a fundamental element in the strength of the economy. On the other hand, the investment grew 2.1%. All large activity sectors presented positive rates at their added value, except agriculture, demonstrating a change of model of the Spanish economy. Thus, industrial branches grew by 0.8% intertrimestral, with special increase in the manufacturing industry, which increased its rate in three tenths with respect, until reaching 1.1%. While the gross added value of the construction increased 1.5% intertrimestral, one more point than in the previous quarter, and that of the services increased by one more point than in the previous quarter, reaching 1.2%.
The external demand had a negative behavior due to the uncertainties that Donald Trump’s tariff policy has created in the world economy. Thus the foreign sector derades one tenth (-0.1%) to the growth of the economy in this quarter.
According to the INE, the exports of goods and services presented an integrametral rate of 1.1%, which meant six tenths less than in the first quarter. For their part, imports recorded a 1.7%variation, two tenths greater than that of the preceding quarter.
The achievement of a transatlantic pact on international trade could further boost economic growth, since uncertainties about a commercial war that could be very pernicious for both parties begin to clear. The tariff agreement between the United States and the European Union, which has not liked the Spanish government or that of other countries such as France, will have an impact on the growth of the very moderate country. The Chamber of Commerce of Spain has estimated that the entry into force of a 15% generalized tariff to US imports from the EU could cause a 10.1% drop in Spanish exports to the US. In monetary terms, a reduction of 1,841 million euros over the total Spanish exports to the United States (USA) of the year 2024 would involve.
“A priori, the direct impact would be limited. Total sales to the US represented only 4.7% of the total Spanish exports in 2024, so it would be a limited effect. However, the impact could be relevant in the sectors with a greater exposure to the American market, such as team goods, semimanuffactures and some agro -food products,” said the Chamber of Commerce of Commerce.
The Active Population Survey (EPA) had already witnessed from the good progress of the economy. Last week the INE published this indicator pointing out that Spain exceeds for the first time the 22 million employed in the second quarter of the year. In total, from April to June, 22,270,000 people had worked and the unemployment rate fell to 10.29%, the lowest figure since 2008.
The occupation rate reached its historical maximum in the second quarter, with 68.3% of the employed population. There have been 236,100 unemployed less compared to the previous quarter. The data is positive compared to previous exercises and, with the exception of the 2023 record, when there was a reduction of 378,100 unemployed in this same period.
Excellent economic data are the main support on which government management is based. In fact, this Monday, the president of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, took chest and exalted the economic situation as a source of inspiration and confidence to attract “investors and businessmen, both national and international.”
Sanchez stressed that the Spanish economy “advances with force” and stressed that the real available income of households is 9% higher than in 2018. The President of the Government has reiterated that our country for the third consecutive year will be the great European economy that grows the most. “We will also grow it above the whole of the European Union, of advanced economies, in an extraordinarily complex geopolitical and international context,” he emphasized.
Source: www.eldiario.es
