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Andalusia’s economy grows by 3.1% year-on-year in the third quarter

November 5, 2021
Andalusia’s economy grows by 3.1% year-on-year in the third quarter

The Andalusian economy grew by 3.1% in the third quarter of this year concerning the same period of the previous year, four-tenths of a percentage point higher than the estimate for the national economy as a whole, which stands at 2.7%, according to the advance of GDP made by the Institute of Statistics and Cartography of Andalusia (IECA), which reports to the Regional Ministry of Economic Transformation, Industry, Knowledge and Universities. This growth in the third quarter is explained by the good performance of the services sector as a whole.

With this performance, the region’s GDP is six percentage points away from recovering the pre-pandemic horizon, corresponding to the fourth quarter of 2019, six-tenths of a percentage point better than the Spanish economy, which is 6.6 points away from reaching that level. Andalusia is resisting the situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic better than the Spanish average.

On the other hand, the ‘Weekly Economic Observatory of the Andalusian Regional Government’, presented by the Regional Ministry of Economic Transformation to the Governing Council, has shown that Andalusia’s trade in goods with the rest of the communities has registered the highest positive balance in the second quarter of the historical series. According to estimates by the Centre for Economic Forecasting of the Autonomous University of Madrid (CEPREDE), Andalusia recorded a trade surplus of 4,523 million euros with the other regions. This is the second-highest figure, after Catalonia (5,835 million euros), of the five regions with a positive balance.

This surplus is the result of exports of 9,390 million euros and imports of 4,867 million euros. Compared to the second quarter of 2020, exports of goods from Andalusia to the other regions increased by 19.3%, almost two points more than in the other autonomous communities (17.5%), and above imports (14.7%).

According to this report, the Industrial Price Index increased by 6% in September concerning the previous month in Andalusia, eight tenths of a percentage point more than at national level (5.2%), making seven consecutive months of increases. In year-on-year terms, its rate of growth intensified by almost eight points to 38.6%, the highest rate in the historical series (2002) and 15 points higher than in Spain (23.6%).

By economic destination of goods, generalised rises were noted, especially in energy (65.8% year-on-year), linked to the strong increase in oil prices (82.7% year-on-year in September). The Weekly Economic Observatory also reports the retail trade sales index, which grew at current prices by 5.8% year-on-year in Andalusia in September, one tenth of a percentage point more than in the previous month, making seven months of positive rates.