MADRID, 22 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Economic Management Indicator (IGE) of the Juan de Mariana Institute places Spain as the country in the European Union with the worst economic results for the period 2019-2023 in terms of economic evolution, employment, fiscal pressure, purchasing power and public debt.
The Economic Management Indicator (IGE) of the Juan de Mariana Institute (IJM) measures the performance of the twenty-seven economies of the European Union (U2-27) based on five study categories: GDP, employment, fiscal pressure, purchasing power and public debt.
The period analyzed covers from 2019 to 2023, years marked by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the energy crisis and several war conflicts in different parts of the world.
The liberal-oriented think tank’s calculations suggest that GDP growth between 2019 and the third quarter of 2023 increased by 3.3 points. “This places us at number 22 in the European ranking, with a GDP evolution that is more than 50% below the European average, which shows an increase of 5.6 points,” notes the Institute.
In labor matters, the report indicates that 90% of the reduction in unemployment between 2019 and 2023 is explained by the Government’s “statistical make-up”, seen for example with the reclassification of discontinuous permanent contracts. Thus, it is ensured that the drop in unemployment recorded in Spain between 2019 and 2023 has been just 1.4%, which places the country in 18th place on the list.
For its part, the Institute has indicated that Spain is the second country in the EU-27 with the highest increase in taxes for the period analyzed. The community average shows an increase of just 0.1 points of GDP, with thirteen member countries that have reduced their fiscal pressure and another seven that have increased it very moderately.
Regarding per capita income in purchasing power parity, the study reflects a drop of 5.5% from 2019 to 2023. This collapse explains why the income gap that separates Spain from the community average has grown from 9 to 14 percentage points.
For its part, the weight of public debt over GDP has risen moderately in the EU-27, with an increase of 3.3 points between 2019 and 2023. On the other hand, in Spain a rise of 10.8 is observed which triples the community average.
The study also compares the economic evolution of Spain with Portugal, since they are neighboring countries with a similar productive structure, comparable performance during the pandemic, a large tourism sector, an energy policy coordinated through the “energy island ” and a succession of left-wing governments throughout the period analyzed (2019-2023).
In the comparison with the Portuguese economy, it is observed that the Spanish GDP grew 4.5 points less, that there are no major differences in terms of employment, that the tax burden rose three times more in the case of Spain, that the income of Citizens performed twice as well in the neighboring country and that the debt/GDP ratio fell 11.4 points in Portugal while it rose 10.8 points in Spain.
