Wednesday April 29, 12:56 PM
Spain's GDP 'falls 1.8% in first quarter'
MADRID (AFP) - Spain's gross domestic product (GDP) shrank by 1.8 percent in the first quarter of 2009 compared to the previous three months, according to an estimate published Wednesday by the Bank of Spain.
GDP plunged by 2.9 percent in the first quarter of 2009 compared to the same period last year, the bank said in its latest economic bulletin, citing estimates based on partially complete data for the period.
"The available indicators regarding the first months of 2009 point to an intensification of the contraction observed at the end of 2008 amid a severe international recession," it said.
Europe's fifth-largest economy entered into its first recession in 15 years at the end of 2008 as the outbreak of the global financial crisis hastened a correction that was already underway in its key real estate sector.
The slowdown pushed Spain's unemployment rate to 17.36 percent in the first quarter of 2009 from 13.91 percent in the previous quarter, its highest level since 1998 and double the average in the 27-nation European Union.
The Bank of Spain estimates the economy will contract by 3.0 percent this year, almost double the figure of 1.6 percent given by the Socialist government in January, and by a further 1.0 percent in 2010.
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