Spain’s economy grew 2.8% in the third quarter of the year compared to the same period in 2024 and 0.6% overall (in relation to the previous three months), the Spanish National Statistics Institute (INE) announced today.
In the second quarter (April to June), Spain’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) had grown 3% year-on-year (compared to the same months of the previous year) and 0.8% quarter-on-quarter.
Growth in the third quarter (July to September) was due to national demand (investment and consumption), which contributed 3.7 points to the increase in GDP year-on-year.
External demand (exports and imports) had a negative contribution of 0.8 points compared to the same period in 2024.
The Spanish economy grew 3.5% in 2024, according to the most recent updated estimate from INE.
In September, the Government of Spain and the Bank of Spain improved their growth forecasts for the country’s economy this year, to 2.7% and 2.6%, respectively.
“Despite the complex international context in which we live, the Spanish economy continues to show clear signs of strength both in the short and medium term”, said the Minister of Economy, Carlos Cuerpo, at a press conference in Madrid on September 16 to present the new perspectives and in which he highlighted that “in 2024 Spain was the advanced economy that grew the most in the world”.
The Government expects the Spanish economy to grow by 2.2% in 2026 and 2.1% in 2027 and 2028, with a positive impact on the labor market that should allow the country’s unemployment rate to fall to 8.7% in 2028.
Spain currently has the highest unemployment rate in the European Union, with the Government estimating that it will stand at 10.3% at the end of this year.
Throughout this estimation period, domestic demand (consumption and investment) will be the engine of economic growth, especially household consumption, while the contribution of external demand (exports and imports) will be negative until 2028, according to the Government.
As for the Bank of Spain, it improved Spain’s GDP growth forecasts in 2025 by two tenths, to 2.6%, maintaining the estimated increase of 1.8% in 2026 and 1.7% in 2027.
The Spanish central bank also bases the new estimates on the dynamism of domestic demand, in particular private consumption.