MADRID, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- The Spanish economy grew by 2.5 percent in 2023, according to data released by the Spanish National Statistics Office (INE) on Tuesday.
The INE report showed that the gross domestic product (GDP) of the eurozone's fourth biggest economy increased by 0.6 percent in the final quarter of the year. In the third quarter, the growth rate stood at 0.4 percent.
"This is very important because it puts us in a good starting point to fulfill our objective of 2 percent GDP growth for 2024," said Spanish Minister for Economy, Commerce and Business Carlos Cuerpo, adding that the growth beat the government's prediction of 2.4 percent.
"The government is showing that it is possible to have economic growth, job creation, measures for social protection and the wellbeing of citizens, homes and companies at the same time," said the minister.
The year 2023 is the third consecutive year Spain's economy has seen growth although the 2.5 percent growth is well below the 6.4 percent rise in 2021 and 5.7 percent in 2022. But the growth is still impressive compared with other European economies, such as France, which saw GDP rise by 0.9 percent, and Germany, which saw a contraction of 0.3 percent.
Strong domestic demand, both in terms of consumer spending and investment, was a key factor for Spain, contributing 1.7 points to the growth of GDP, while the strong performance of Spain's tourism sector was also important, said INE.
Spain received over 84 million foreign tourists in 2023, a rise of 19 percent from 2022 and the tourism sector accounted for 12.8 percent of the GDP last year.
As a result, 780,000 jobs were created throughout 2023, the INE's quarterly Inquest into the Active Population (EPA) report said. ■