Economic growth in Catalonia speeds up, increasing by 0.9% between January and March

Barcelona (ACN).- The Catalan economy has now accumulated 8 consecutive quarters of economic growth, posting a 0.9% increase in GDP between January and March, according to provisional data released on Thursday by the Catalan Finance Ministry and the Catalan Statistics Institute (Idescat). Regarding inter-annual figures, the Catalan economy had grown by 2.4% by the end of the first quarter of 2015 compared to figures from the same period in 2014. These last figures confirm a strengthening of inter-annual growth, since last December it reached 1.9%, and an overall strengthening of the Catalan economy and its recovery from the crisis of the last years. The recovery of the internal demand and the continuing good performance of the export and tourism sectors are the main engines behind the positive figures from the first quarter of 2015. In addition, the industrial sector has been growing for the last 3 years and construction has started to grow again after 7 years of continuous decline.

Catalonia's economic growth measured in quarterly terms has accumulated 8 consecutive quarters of growth. In annual terms, there have now been 6 consecutive quarters of continuous increases. The figures from the first quarter of 2015, and those from the last quarter of 2014, have been adapted to the new accounting methodology set by the European Union, which includes illegal activities such as drug trafficking and prostitution.

All sectors of the Catalan economy have contributed to the economic growth, with the exception of agriculture. The primary sector registered a 0.7% fall in annual terms (while in December it fell by 1.7%). Besides this, the industrial sector grew by 0.6% in annual terms (while in December it grew by 0.4%) and accumulates now 3 consecutive years of growth. The results of the Catalan industrial sector are better than those of the majority of the Euro-zone, where industrial production is falling in countries such as Italy and France.

Construction accumulates 2 consecutive quarters of growth after 7 years of decline

The positive contribution of the construction sector registered in the last quarter of 2014 continued between January and March 2015. After 7 years of continuous decline, figures from last December showed an inflection point for the first time in this sector, posting 2.9% growth. In the first quarter of 2015, this trend has been confirmed with 6.2% growth, particularly thanks to housing construction.

Finally, the services sector had the strongest growth among all the economic sectors. Services grew by 2.8% between March 2014 and March 2015, mostly thanks to tourism and retail. Besides this, the Idescat also highlights that the number of tourists visiting Catalonia during the first quarter of the year increased by 5.2% compared to the same period from last year and their spending grew by 12.6%.