The Spanish economy grew by 0.6% quarter-on-quarter between July and September 2026 according to the preliminary data published this Friday by the National Statistics Institute (INE).
This figure confirms a slight moderation of activity during the summer months as it is one-tenth less than in the previous quarter when GDP was at 0.7%.
This figure confirms that the GDP of our country is on a new upward trend, although it is starting to stabilise after the strong boost recorded in the first half of the year.
Meanwhile, the year-on-year growth rate accelerated in the third quarter by one-tenth to 2.7% compared to the previous 2.6% according to the INE.
Domestic demand and consumption drive growth
National demand continued to support growth with a contribution of 0.5 points at the quarterly level and 2.6 points in year-on-year terms.
For its part, external demand added one-tenth in the quarter thanks to the improvement in exports, which increased by 1.3%.
Despite this external rebound, the contribution of the international sector to GDP for the whole year was almost negligible, which contrasts with the strength of domestic demand and household consumption, which grew by 0.6% between July and September although it slowed its growth compared to the third quarter of 2025 by four-tenths, to 3.1%.
Investment slows down and public spending accelerates
Public spending accelerated by three-tenths to reach 0.9%, three-tenths more than the previous quarter. This acceleration is directly related to the final execution phase and the deadline for justification of the European Recovery Plan, which concentrated a very high volume of public investment during the summer months.
Investment also hit the brakes and slowed down by three-tenths compared to the previous quarter, standing at a variation of 0.6%
In year-on-year terms, public spending moderated its pace of advance by one-tenth to 2.5%, while investment grew by 3.9% in year-on-year terms, a rate 1.1 points lower than that of the previous quarter and the least pronounced in at least five years.
The slowdown in construction and the boost in industry
Construction became the only major sector of activity that did not grow in the third quarter of 2026. A figure that can be explained by the exhaustion of residential investment by households and the rising cost of credit due to the increase in interest rates to contain inflation.
