The Catalan economic recovery is showing clear and more frequent signs of progressing. According to the report issued by a collaboration of both the Ministry of Economy and Knowledge and Idescat (Statistical Institute of Catalonia), the Catalan GDP registered a quarter-on-quarter growth rate of 0.6% in the second term of 2014 and an inter-annual growth rate of 1.3%. The reported data is in reference to the change in the GDP as a whole and to the gross value added (GVA) of agricultural, manufacturing, construction and services industries.

 

The most positive contribution to the second quarter’s GDP pattern corresponds to the services industry, with an inter-annual growth rate of 1.8%. This sector has shown an increase in the fourth quarter inter-annual growth rate of 2013, due to the improving results in internal demand. The available indicators of the second quarter of 2014 suggest that the internal demand continues to rise, especially in terms of private consumption and capital goods investment. Furthermore, demand in tourism has continued to drive the industry due to foreign tourist affluence and increased domestic tourism. The recovery in employment is also one of the main indicators of the positive progression the services sector and of the economy as a whole is experiencing.

 

In relation to the manufacturing industry, the positive tendency which began at the end of 2012 has continued to maintain itself. Gross value added in this sector has also increased 1.4% due to an improvement in the majority of industrial branches. The activity of this particular sector is benefiting from positive figures in exports and an improvement in internal demand. It should be noted the increase in industrial production experienced in Catalonia is greater than those experienced in other major countries of the eurozone.

 

Finally, the fall in GVA is perceived to slow down in the construction industry (4.9% in the second quarter). In fact, the main indicators in the housing sector have improved in the last months with sales of newly constructed flats increasing, housing prices beginning to rise and the enhanced amount of projects visited by building surveyors. In terms of civil engineering, tendering of public works projects has also increased although, considering the current fiscal adjustment, these values are of no significant effect.