Economy of Spain

Economy of Spain

Cuatro Torres Business Area in Madrid
Currency	Euro (EUR, €)
Fixed exchange rates	1 euro = 166.386 Spanish peseta
Fiscal year	Calendar year
Trade organisations	EU, WTO and OECD
Country group	Developed/Advanced[1] High-income economy[2] Welfare state[3][4]
Statistics
Population	48,946,035 (1 October 2024)[5]
GDP	$1.828 trillion (nominal; 2025f)[6] $2.772 trillion (PPP; 2025f)[6]
GDP rank	14th (nominal; 2025) 15th (PPP; 2024)
GDP growth	2.7% (2023e)[7] 3.1% (2024e)[7] 2.3% (2025f)[7] 1.8% (2026f)[7]
GDP per capita	$37,362 (nominal; 2025f)[6] $56,660 (PPP; 2025f)[6]
GDP per capita rank	31st (nominal; 2024) 33rd (PPP; 2024)
GDP by sector	agriculture: 3% industry: 23% services: 75% (2021)[8]
Inflation (CPI)	3.0% (January 2025)[9]
Population below poverty line	26.5% at risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE 2023)[10]
Gini coefficient	31.5 medium (2023)[11]
Human Development Index	0.911 very high (2022)[12] (27th) 0.796 high IHDI (38th) (2022)[12]
Corruption Perceptions Index	60 out of 100 points (2023)[13] (36th)
Labour force	24,199,271 (2023)[14] 51.7% employment rate (2023)[15]
Labour force by occupation	agriculture: 4% industry: 24% services: 72% (2009)[16]
Unemployment	10.61% (January 2025)[17] 24.90% youth unemployment (15 to 25 year-olds; January 2025)[17]
Average gross salary	€2,520 / $2,727 per month (2023)
Average net salary	€1,964 / $2,125 per month (2023)
Main industries	machinery electronics medical equipment chemicals motor vehicles clothing food processing tourism shipbuilding [18][19]
External
Exports	$616 billion (2023 est.)[16]
Export goods	Machinery, motor vehicles; foodstuffs, pharmaceuticals, medicines, other consumer goods
Main export partners	France 15%  Germany 11%  Italy 8%  Portugal 7%  United Kingdom 7%  United States 4.4% (2017)[16]
Imports	$552 billion (2023 est.)[16]
Import goods	Fuels, chemicals, semi-finished goods, foodstuffs, consumer goods, machinery and equipment, measuring and medical control instruments
Main import partners	Germany 14%  France 12%  China 7%  Italy 7%  Netherlands 5%  United Kingdom 4% (2017)[16]
FDI stock	$825 billion (31 December 2017 est.)[16] Abroad: $777 billion (31 December 2017 est.)[16]
Current account	$43 billion (2023 est.)[16]
Gross external debt	$2.7 trillion (2024 Q3)[20]
Public finances
Government debt	106.5% of GDP (2024)[21] €1.6 trillion (Q2 2024)[22]
Budget balance	€52 billion deficit (2023)[23] −3.5% of GDP (2023)[23]
Revenues	41.9% of GDP (2023)[23]
Expenses	45.4% of GDP (2023)[23]
Economic aid	€35 billion from European Structural and Investment Funds (2007–2013)[24] €37 billion from European Structural and Investment Funds (2014–2020)[25]
Credit rating	Standard & Poor's:[26] AAA Outlook: Positive Moody's:[27] Baa1 Outlook: Positive Fitch:[28] A- Outlook: Positive Scope:[29] A Outlook: Stable
Foreign reserves	$103 billion (2023 est.)[16]
All values, unless otherwise stated, are in US dollars.

The economy of Spain is a highly developed social market economy.^[30] It is the world's 15th largest by nominal GDP and the sixth-largest in Europe. Spain is a member of the European Union and the eurozone, as well as the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development and the World Trade Organization. In 2023, Spain was the 18th-largest exporter in the world. Meanwhile, in 2022, Spain was the 15th-largest importer in the world. Spain is listed 27th in the United Nations Human Development Index and 36th in GDP per capita by the World Bank. Some main areas of economic activity are the automotive industry, medical technology, chemicals, shipbuilding, tourism and the textile industry. Among OECD members, Spain has a highly efficient and strong social security system, which comprises roughly 23% of GDP.^[4][31][3]

During the Great Recession, Spain's economy was also in a recession. Compared to the EU and US averages, the Spanish economy entered recession later, but stayed there longer. The boom of the 2000s was reversed, leaving over a quarter of Spain's workforce unemployed by 2012. In aggregate, GDP contracted almost 9% during 2009–2013.^[32] In 2012, the government officially requested a credit from the European Stability Mechanism to restructure its banking sector in the face of the crisis.^[33] The ESM approved assistance and Spain drew €41 billion. The ESM programme for Spain ended with the full repayment of the credit drawn 18 months later.^[34]

The economic situation started improving by 2013. By then, Spain managed to reverse the record trade deficit which had built up during the boom years.^[35] It attained a trade surplus in 2013, after three decades of running a deficit.^[35][36] In 2015, GDP grew by 3.2%: a rate not seen since 2007.^[37][38] In 2014–2015, the economy recovered 85% of the GDP lost during the 2009–2013 recession.^[39] This success led some analysts to refer to Spain's recovery as "the showcase for structural reform efforts".^[40] Spain's unemployment fell substantially from 2013 to 2017. Real unemployment is much lower, as millions work in the grey market, people who count as unemployed yet perform jobs.^[41] Real Spanish GDP may be around 20% bigger, as it is assumed the underground economy is annually 190 billion euros (US$224 billion).^[42] Among high income European countries, only Italy and Greece are believed to have larger underground economies. Thus Spain may have higher purchasing power as well as a smaller gini coefficient^[43] (inequality measure), than shown in official numbers.

The 2020 pandemic hit the Spanish economy with more intensity than other countries, as foreign tourism accounts for 5% of GDP. In the first quarter of 2023, it had fully recovered from the downturn, its GDP reaching pre-pandemic levels.^[44] In 2023, Spain's economy grew 2.5%, bucking a downturn in the eurozone as a whole,^[45] and is expected to grow at 3.1% in 2024, and 2.5% in 2025.^[46]