For developed countries, we have data up until 2022, and in most of them income inequality continues to show a long-term upward trend. For Spain, however, we have data up until October 2024 and the message, fortunately, is quite different.
This is the first of two articles devoted to the analysis of investment in Spain and explores the changes that have taken place in the last decade in the composition of investment in Spain. The second article focuses on investment trends since the beginning of the pandemic, as well as the signals that can be drawn from the latest investment indicators.
The evolution of the middle class in Spain reflects a slight upward trend in recent years: according to the data, the percentage of the population belonging to this social stratum increased from 59.2% in 2007 to 61.1% in 2022. However, despite this slight growth, the perception is often the opposite.
Wage incomes per employee increased by an average of 2.4% year-on-year in May according to our wages indicator. Are low-income workers’ wages growing at the same rate as those of high-income workers?
We take a snapshot of the incomes of what is considered to be the middle class in Spain in recent years, and we look at why we have the feeling that it is in retreat.
Temporary employment adjustment schemes, including the ERTE in Spain, are being widely used throughout Europe to cushion the impact of COVID-19 on the labour market.
Spain’s economy has not abandoned the path of correcting one of its traditional imbalances: its foreign indebtedness. Spain has not only racked up 12 consecutive years with a net lending capacity, but in 2023 its net lending also reached a new all-time high of 3.7% of GDP, compared to 1.5% in 2022.
Our forecast for 2023 headline inflation in Spain has been revised downwards, from 4.5% to 4.2%, due to the impact of the lower energy prices. However, core inflation (the sum of services and industrial products) and food inflation will remain very high.
As we approach the end of a good year from a macroeconomic perspective, 2025 is expected to be another buoyant year for the Spanish economy thanks to a growing role of private domestic demand.
In this article we analyse the role played by the US economy in our country’s trade relations: although it is an important trade partner, Spain’s exposure to the US is relatively low, although there are significant disparities between sectors.
In these first few months of the year, Spain’s GDP has continued to grow at a significant rate, although the gap between the services and industrial sectors persists. Job creation is gaining traction, while inflation continues to decline, driven by the fall in energy prices. The trade deficit continued to increase in February and residential activity in Spain has had the best start to the year since 2007.
In the continuation of the article «Advanced economy housing markets in a scenario of tighter monetary policy (part I)» we calculate the potential adjustment in housing prices which could occur in some of the international housing markets that are showing signs of overvaluation.
Spain’s foreign sector has registered a surplus for the last 12 consecutive years. The strength of this success was proven last year, when the current account balance survived the energy crisis, which caused a sharp rise in the price of imported energy products and a marked deterioration in the trade balance.
The COVID-19 crisis would have led to a sharp increase in inequality if the actions taken by the public sector had not cushioned it to some extent. The high levels of inequality recorded during the peak of the crisis are gradually decreasing thanks to the recovery in business.
What are the implications of telecommuting for urban mobility and, from a longer-term perspective, the implications for the residential real estate market?
The Spanish labour market has changed its growth pattern since the pandemic, showing an increase in employment in sectors such as health, education and technology. Is this new model favouring an increase in productivity? We analyse the impact of the composition effect and how it compares with other expansive cycles.