The Spanish government has increased its GDP growth projections for 2025 and 2026 to 2.4% and 2.2%, respectively, as stated by Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo on Tuesday, who noted that Spain's economy is performing better than those of its eurozone counterparts.

The government adjusted its forecasts for both years by 0.2 percentage points, according to Cuerpo during a press conference.

“The factors that will drive the growth of GDP in 2025 and 2026 will be private consumption and investment,” he said.

Furthermore, the government predicts that the country’s unemployment rate will gradually decrease to 9.7% by 2026, down from 12.2% in 2023. 

The minister said on Monday that the government has increased its economic growth forecast for this year to 2.7%, up from the previous estimate of 2.4%, Reuters news agency reports.

Despite the expected increase in growth, the ministry maintained its deficit forecast for this year at “close to 3% of GDP.”

The upgraded forecasts come after a comprehensive revision for the 2021-2023 period announced last week by the Spanish statistics department (INE).

This revision estimated the Spanish economy to be worth €1.5 trillion euros in 2023 and raised the annual growth rate for this year to 2.7%, up from 2.5%.

With this adjustment, the Spanish economy is increasing its lead over the rest of the eurozone, which is projected to grow only 0.8% this year, according to data from the European Commission.

Indeed, Spain's central bank predicts a growth rate of 2.8% for this year, along with a quarterly expansion of 0.6% in the third quarter.