- GDP increases by 3.2% in year-on-year terms, twice the average for the euro zone
- The dynamism of private consumption and investment is maintained, especially in capital goods, and exports rebound
- The composition of growth is more balanced, with a positive external demand contribution
The Spanish economy registered 0.8% quarter-on-quarter growth in the second quarter of 2016, slightly above that of the previous quarter and a half point higher than the euro zone. In year-on-year terms, GDP increased by 3.2%, two tenths less than in the previous quarter and twice that of the euro zone (1.6%). Employment grew 0.6% compared to the previous quarter and 2.9% compared to a year earlier, which means the creation of 484,300 full-time equivalent jobs in the last twelve months. These figures show that the Spanish economy maintains a strong dynamism tone thanks to private consumption, investment, especially in capital goods, and the rebound in exports of goods and services.
The composition of growth is more balanced, with a contribution of national demand to the annual increase in GDP of 3 percentage points, eight tenths lower than the previous quarter, and a contribution of positive net external demand, of 0.2 points, after five quarters of negative contributions (-0.4 points in the first quarter of 2016).
Among the components of the national demand, in inter-quarterly terms, the highest rate of progress in gross fixed capital formation stands out, one point up to 1.3%. This acceleration is explained by the greater dynamism of the investment in capital goods and cultivated assets, whose increase reaches 2.2%, more than double that of the previous quarter (0.9%), as well as the rebound of the Investment in construction, which goes from 0.2% in the first quarter of the year to 0.9%, in the second. On the contrary, investment in intellectual property products is reduced slightly (-0.1% quarter-on-quarter), following the 0.4% advance of the previous quarter.
Regarding the final consumption expenditure, that of households increases 0.7% in the inter-quarterly rate, three tenths less than in the previous quarter, and the final consumption expenditure of the Public Administrations is reduced 1.6%, after of five quarters of uninterrupted increases (0.7% in the first of this year).
The greater contribution of net external demand to the annual growth of GDP is due to an acceleration of exports more pronounced than that of imports, with rates of 6.8% and 6.6%, respectively, higher in 3 and 1 , 2 points to the previous quarter. In inter-quarter terms, export growth reaches 4.3%, compared to the 0.4% drop in the first quarter, which represents the highest rate since the third quarter of 1997, and imports accelerated 2, 3 points, up to 2.7%.
From the perspective of the offer, the Gross Value Added (GVA) of the services sector and that of the industry accelerate two and three tenths, respectively, in the second quarter, both registering a quarterly increase of 1.1%. On the other hand, the GVA of agriculture, livestock, forestry and fishing decreases 0.9%, one tenth less than in the previous quarter, and the GVA of construction decreases 0.7%, compared to the null variation of the previous quarter .
The interannual rate of the GDP deflator is 0.5% in the second quarter, after the stabilization of the first quarter. This acceleration is mainly explained by the rebound in the AAPP consumption deflator (1.7%, compared with the 0.9% decrease in the first quarter) and by the sharp drop in the import deflator (-4.2 %, compared to -2.6% in the previous quarter).
The rate of full-time equivalent job creation moderated in the second quarter of the year, three tenths in both quarterly and year-on-year terms, to 0.6% and 2.9%, respectively. It involves the net creation of 101,200 full-time equivalent jobs in the quarter and 484,300 in the last twelve months. As a consequence of the evolution of GDP and employment, productivity per employed person intensifies the rate of inter-annual progress by three tenths, up to 0.4%. On the other hand, the salary per employee increases 0.8%, after the 0.1% decrease of the previous quarter, so that unit labor costs increase 0.4%, compared to the 0.2% decrease from the previous quarter.
Nominal GDP accelerated three tenths in the second quarter, to record an interannual rate of 3.7%. Regarding the primary distribution of income, this acceleration is due to the evolution of two of its three main components: the salary of employees increased 4% year-on-year, 0.6 points more than in the previous quarter, and the gross surplus of exploitation / mixed income accelerated a point and a half, registering a growth of 4.6%. On the other hand, net taxes on subsidies on production and imports registered a negative year-on-year rate (-1%), after four years of consecutive advances.
