SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, Feb. 4 (EUROPE PRESS) –
The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the Canary Islands grew by 6.1% in 2021 compared to the previous year, while the increase at the state level was 5%, according to provisional data published this Friday by the Canary Institute of Statistics (Istac ) completing the provisional accounting for last year with the data for the fourth quarter.
The final data for the year will be known at the end of the current year.
The Canarian Vice President and Minister of Finance, Budgets and European Affairs, Román Rodríguez, made a “very positive” reading of the report, because he notes the significant reactivation of the productive sectors of the archipelago, especially during the fourth quarter of the year.
Precisely, in this period the Canarian GDP registered a growth of 9.7%, compared to the 5.2% recorded by the State.
Rodríguez recalled that the latest known data at the end of 2021 already pointed in the same direction, with a significant reduction in unemployment and a notable increase in Social Security affiliations.
“If the labor market is revitalized and, at the same time, tax revenues experience an improvement, as has also happened, we are faced with irrefutable proof that the Canarian economy is regaining its pulse,” he commented.
The vice president also highlighted that the increase in GDP registered in 2021 is close to the estimate reflected for that year in the central scenario of the General Budget Law of the Autonomous Community of 2022 proposed by the Ministry of Economy, Knowledge and Employment, department in charge of macroeconomic forecasting.
This approximation occurs even despite the incidence of the fifth wave of Covid 19 and the beginning of the sixth last year, “logically unpredictable” contingencies when the forecast for the evolution of the economy in the Canary Islands was made, they stand out from the Ministry in a note.
According to the data published by Istac, the best quarter of the year was the second, when the Canarian economy experienced an increase of 26.2%, compared to 17.7% at the national level. The pace of growth slowed in the third quarter, with a 7.6% increase — 3.4% nationally — and picked up in the last quarter to 9.7%.
All sectors have experienced growth during the fourth quarter of the year, except construction.
CONSTRUCTION FALLS
The services sector stands out in this section, with an increase of 11.5%, followed by agriculture (4.5%) and industry (4.0%), while construction decreased by 1.5%.
The data available by autonomous community in relation to the year 2021 is that of Andalusia, Navarra and the Basque Country, which have reported growth of 5.1%, 5.8% and 5.5%, respectively.
The Istac recalls that, as on other occasions, at the time of the publication of the quarterly GDP, information is not available on all the short-term indicators for the reference quarter and in this case most of the indicators are available until November and only some until December or the entire fourth quarter.
In years of economic stability, the econometric models used in this operation make it possible to project the missing data to complete the quarter and thus make a first estimate of this quarter’s GDP.
The precise measurement of the economic consequences generated by Covid 19 requires more information than is currently available and will not be published until the end of this year with the figures offered by the Regional Accounting of Spain.
Meanwhile, the estimates of the GDP situation have been adapted following the recommendations of Eurostat 1.
