The Bank of Spain said that at the end of 2023, the public debt-to-GDP ratio decreased by 3.9% compared to the end of 2022, reaching 107.7%, and falling below the expectations of the Ministry of Economy (108.1%).
"This is the third year in a row that these debt reduction forecasts have been beaten. We are already 17 points below the peak reached during the pandemic," said Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo.
The Spanish government expects that the public debt-to-GDP ratio will continue to decline this year and reach 106%. Regarding the economic outlook, forecasts suggest that economic growth will slow to 2% from 2.5% in 2023.
In 2023, Spain's economy grew by 2.5%, a notable slowdown compared to the 5.8% growth seen in 2022. In the 4th quarter of 2023, GDP grew by 0.6% QoQ after an increase of 0.4% in the 3rd quarter, while economists had forecast growth of 0.2%. Overall, the latest data confirm the strength of the Spanish economy, which is showing resilience amid a sharp slowdown in the other eurozone countries. Spain is outperforming its European peers like Germany, whose economy is more dependent on manufacturing and more affected by the global economic slowdown.