Spain’s economy expanded 3.2 percent last year, outstripping official forecasts and far outperforming its eurozone peers, preliminary data from the National Statistics Institute showed on yesterday.
Spanish Minister of Economy, Trade and Business Carlos Cuerpo said this week the government would raise its forecast for this year from the current 2.4 percent following the annual data, which was buoyed by a tourism boom as well as a strong agriculture industry and higher exports.
Economic growth should remain robust this year and next thanks to consumer spending, boosted by falling unemployment, and investment, brokerage Jefferies said in a note to investors. Spain’s unemployment rate dropped in the fourth quarter to its lowest level in 16 years, data showed on Tuesday.
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Still, the rising cost of living and a housing crisis that has pushed prices through the roof in big cities has dented living standards despite the growth, Renta 4 brokerage head of strategy Natalia Aguirre told reporters, forecasting a slowdown in private consumption.
Analysts also point to Spain’s below-par GDP per capita in Western Europe and its snail-paced growth that clocked just about 4 percent since 2007.
The country’s economy expanded 0.8 percent in the last three months of the year from the previous three, the same pace as the quarter before.
Recently both France and Germany lowered their growth outlooks for this year to 0.9 percent and 0.3 percent respectively, while Italy expects a 1.2 percent expansion. All three are due to release GDP data today.
SEMICONDUCTOR SERVICES: A company executive said that Taiwanese firms must think about how to participate in global supply chains and lift their competitiveness Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said it expects to launch its first multifunctional service center in Pingtung County in the middle of 2027, in a bid to foster a resilient high-tech facility construction ecosystem. TSMC broached the idea of creating a center two or three years ago when it started building new manufacturing capacity in the US and Japan, the company said. The center, dubbed an “ecosystem park,” would assist local manufacturing facility construction partners to upgrade their capabilities and secure more deals from other global chipmakers such as Intel Corp, Micron Technology Inc and Infineon Technologies AG, TSMC said. It
People walk past advertising for a Syensqo chip at the Semicon Taiwan exhibition in Taipei yesterday.
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