Context
Spain is a country in Southwestern Europe with a population around 47 million people, making it the world's 30th most populous country. Spain has a structurally high unemployment rate, which is estimated to be between 8 and 12 percent. Due to the economic crisis from 2008-2013, Spain’s unemployment rate ballooned to almost 27 percent in 2013. However, the unemployment rate decreased to 14.5 percent in 2018 and has fallen to 12.2 percent in 2020 due to strong job creation.
GDP Analysis
Both nominal GDP and real GDP hit the lowest points from 2013-2014. In 2016 we saw GDP increase after the economic crisis due to the government creating programs to increase youth employment.
In Spain there was an above-average inflation rate, increases in property prices and a growing family debt and Spain entered recession. As of October 2010, the Spanish economy has continued to contract, resulting in decreasing nominal GDP and increasing inflation. The rise in prices, combined with the recently implemented austerity measures and extremely high youth unemployment are heavily impacting the livelihood of Spanish citizens.
Table 1: Nominal GDP, Real GDP, Real GDP % Change & Real GDP per capita.
Source: The World Bank
https://data.worldbank.org/indicator
Figure 1: Real GDP per capita
Real GDP growth in the France, between 2012 and 2014 was positive while in Spain it was negative. This may be due to the economic crisis Spain faced during this period that was no present in France.
ReplyDeleteHowever, due to the Covid pandemic, the real GDP growth in France fell by 8.23%, in comparison, Spain suffered no negative growth due to the pandemic but instead real GDP grew by 1.95% instead. Any idea why this is?