Spain's economy grew by 0.6% in the first quarter from the previous three months, official data showed today, slightly beating a preliminary estimate and bucking a downturn in the euro zone as a whole.
"It confirms that we have already returned to pre-pandemic GDP," the Economy Ministry said in a statement.
Spain was the European country hardest hit by the pandemic, with its GDP falling by 11.3% in 2020. The gradual opening up to tourism meant the country took longer to recover to pre-pandemic levels than neighbouring countries.
But early data anticipate a record year for tourism in 2023, at the same time as EU COVID recovery funds are finally energizing the economy, experts said.
The data from the National Statistics Institute (INE) showed better than expected domestic consumption, robust exports and a stronger than forecast recovery in tourism.
In April INE had initially estimated first quarter GDP growth of 0.5%.
The Spanish economy is outperforming the euro area, which was in a technical recession in the first quarter, according to preliminary data.
Spanish GDP in the first three months of 2023 grew 4.2% from a year earlier, INE said, up from its previous estimate of 3.8%.
Growth data for the fourth quarter of 2022 were also revised slightly upwards.
Exports continued to be one of the driving forces of the economy in January-March, INE said, as they increased by more than 10% for the eighth consecutive quarter.
Domestic demand had shown signs of weakening in recent quarters, with households under pressure from inflation and interest rate hikes, but the INE has raised its initial figure.
The services sector, which accounts for more than 70% of GDP in Spain, performed better than expected, with restaurants and retail growing 10% compared to the same quarter last year.
The Bank of Spain expects the economy grew 0.6% in the second quarter and will expand 2.3% in 2023 overall, a faster pace than the 1.6% forecast three months ago.
The government forecasts growth of 2.1% this year.
