SPAIN’S economy grew faster in the final quarter of 2025, resulting in an estimated 2.8% growth last year, according to preliminary figures from National Statistics Institute (INE) published on Friday.
It means it finished 2025 as the world’s fastest growing major economy for the second successive year.
Gross domestic product expanded by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, accelerating from a 0.6% increase in the previous three-month period, according to the INE.
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Economy Minister, Carlos Cuerpo, said: “This is good news not only for 2025 but also because of what it means for 2026, because growth accelerated towards the end of the year.”
He added that preliminary GDP figures for January continued to be robust, which should help achieve the government’s 2.2% growth target for this year.
The 2025 2.8% figure did not not reach the record heights of 3.5% achieved the previous year.
Raymond Torres, head of the Funcas economic think tank described the news as positive and stressed that ‘it not only reflects solid aggregate growth, but also a higher advance in per capita terms than most of our European partners, maintaining a favourable differential’.
Sustained domestic demand and higher household consumption thanks to workers’ rising purchasing power – as well as a larger workforce due to an influx of migrants – have helped Spain outpace the euro zone’s major economies in recent years.
Current data or projections show an estimated annual growth of 0.9% for France, 0.4% for Italy and 0.2% for Germany.
Spain, the European Union’s fourth-largest economy, has outperformed its peers since 2021, supported by low energy costs, domestic consumption and a rebound in tourism since the end of the Covid pandemic.
The country hosted 97 million foreign visitors last year, continuing a three-year streak of record-breaking arrivals.
Spain is also more insulated from global trade tensions than many of its eurozone peers.
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