Bittersweet data in the Catalan economy, with quarter-on-quarter GDP (gross domestic product) growth of 1.5% but with the industrial sector weakened by registering annual falls. In the second quarter of the year, the industrial sector registered a year-on-year drop of 1.5%, compared to the drop of 1.2% in the first three months of the year, according to data released today by Idescat.
In year-on-year terms, the GDP grew by 4.8%. They are five tenths less than the variation experienced by the Spanish economy and eight tenths more than the EU-27 in the same period. In quarter-on-quarter terms, the variation rate in Catalonia of the aforementioned 1.5% is four tenths higher than that of Spain (1.1%) and nine tenths higher than that reached in the EU-27 (0.6%).
In a statement, Idescat highlighted that the worse evolution of the industry "reflects the economic difficulties of various manufacturing branches." The same report highlights that "although sales maintain a good growth rate at current prices, we must take into account the increase in the cost of raw materials and supplies and the increase in prices, which have as a consequence that the results in volume of industrial value added become negative".
