SPAIN’S economy grew by 0.6% in the first quarter of the year, according to the National Institute of Statistics (INE) on Thursday.
That was 0.2% down on the previous quarter with the lower increase attributed to reduced household spending, business investment, plus a fall in exports.
Despite the effect of the Iranian war on energy prices, domestic demand (consumption and investment) continued to sustain growth, contributing 0.5% to the quarter rise, while exports and imports contributed 0.1%.
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The Economy Ministry has stressed that household consumption is consolidating itself as one of the main drivers of the Spanish economy, supported by the good performance of the labour market.
It added that measures introduced by the government in late March cushioned the big rise in energy costs on households and companies.
Between January and March, the increase in household consumption moderated by three tenths, to 0.6%; and the growth of business investment (machinery, capital goods, weapons systems and biological resources) slowed down by 0.4% to 0.5%
The INE added that exports fell by 0.6% and imports fell by 1%, in line with lower domestic demand.
On the supply side, construction activity was the only one that did not grow, remaining stagnant; while industry advanced by 0.3%; services, 0.8%; and agriculture, by 3.3%.
Within services, financial and insurance activities fell by 1%, while the greatest advance (1.8%) was for professional, scientific and technical activities; followed by commerce, transport and hospitality (1.4%).
In terms of income, salaries grew by 0.8% while net taxes on production and imports fell by 7.3%.
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