STORY: Spanish GDP grows by 3.2 pct in 2024
SHOOTING TIME: Jan. 29, 2025
DATELINE: Jan. 30, 2025
LENGTH: 0:01:48
LOCATION: Madrid
CATEGORY: ECONOMY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of Barcelona
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (Spanish): PEDRO SANCHEZ, Spanish Prime Minister
3. various of Barcelona
4. SOUNDBITE 2 (Spanish): PEDRO SANCHEZ, Spanish Prime Minister

STORYLINE:

The Spanish economy grew by 3.2 percent in 2024, according to data published on Wednesday by the Spanish Statistical Office (INE).

The announcement comes after INE confirmed that Spain's economy had expanded by 0.8 percent in the last quarter of 2024, in line with the level of growth seen over the previous nine months.

This growth has surpassed the expectations of the Spanish government, which had projected the economy would grow by 2.7 percent in 2024, with only the Bank of Spain predicting growth of over 3 percent.

SOUNDBITE 1 (Spanish): PEDRO SANCHEZ, Spanish Prime Minister
"The economy is growing. We share the wealth better and take care of the planet like we have never done in Spain, and the model works."

Spain therefore has the strongest growth among the major economies of the European Union (EU), and 2024 was also the fourth consecutive year the country's GDP has expanded since the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, which saw the economy shrink by 10.9 percent.

Spain has bounced back robustly since the pandemic, with growth of 6.6 percent in 2021, 6.1 percent in 2022, 2.68 percent in 2023 and 3.2 percent last year.

About 40 percent of the growth of the eurozone in 2024 comes from Spain, said the country's Minister of Economy, Commerce and Business, Carlos Cuerpo.

"We have had continuous positive surprises in terms of growth for more than two years," added the minister, speaking at the New Economy Forum in Madrid.

Cuerpo said the government is optimistic about the future, with Spain also in a "very good position" to continue leading growth among the major economies in 2025 and 2026.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez also celebrated the news, which comes just one day after INE confirmed that 468,100 new jobs were created in Spain in 2024. The country ended the year with a record 21,857,900 people in work.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish): PEDRO SANCHEZ, Spanish Prime Minister
"This promotion has turned us into an export power and raised the purchasing power of millions of homes and has helped to reduce wage inequality."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Madrid.
(XHTV)