Economy—overview: Spain's mixed capitalist economy supports a GDP that on a per capita basis is three-fourths that of the four leading West European economies. Its center-right government successfully worked to gain admission to the first group of countries launching the European single currency on 1 January 1999. The deficit-to-GDP ratio is 2.1%, the debt-to-GDP ratio is around 68%, and inflation is approximately 2%. Moreover, the AZNAR administration has continued to advocate liberalization, privatization, and deregulation of the economy and has introduced some tax reforms to that end. Unemployment, nonetheless, remains the highest in the EU at 20%. The government, for political reasons, has made only limited progress in changing labor laws or reforming pension schemes, which are key to the sustainability of both Spain's internal economic advances and its competitiveness in a single currency area. Adjustment to the monetary and other economic policies of an integrated Europe will pose difficult challenges to Spain in the next few years.

GDP: purchasing power parity—$645.6 billion (1998 est.)

GDP—real growth rate: 3.5% (1998 est.)

GDP—per capita: purchasing power parity—$16,500 (1998 est.)

GDP—composition by sector:
agriculture: 3.4%
industry: 33.3%
services: 63.3% (1997 est.)

Population below poverty line: NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 2.8%
highest 10%: 25.2% (1990)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2% (1998 est.)

Labor force: 16.2 million

Labor force—by occupation: services 64%, manufacturing, mining, and construction 28%, agriculture 8% (1997 est.)

Unemployment rate: 20% (1998 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $113 billion
expenditures: $139 billion, including capital expenditures of $15 billion (1995)

Industries: textiles and apparel (including footwear), food and beverages, metals and metal manufactures, chemicals, shipbuilding, automobiles, machine tools, tourism

Industrial production growth rate: 5.8% (1998)

Electricity—production: 163.468 billion kWh (1996)

Electricity—production by source:
fossil fuel: 43.17%
hydro: 23.92%
nuclear: 32.74%
other: 0.17% (1996)

Electricity—consumption: 164.568 billion kWh (1996)

Electricity—exports: 5.7 billion kWh (1996)

Electricity—imports: 6.8 billion kWh (1996)

Agriculture—products: grain, vegetables, olives, wine grapes, sugar beets, citrus; beef, pork, poultry, dairy products; fish

Exports: $111.1 billion (f.o.b., 1998 est.)

Exports—commodities: cars and trucks, other machinery and manufactured goods, foodstuffs, and other consumer goods

Exports—partners: EU 70% (France 20%, Germany 18%, Italy 10%, Portugal 9%, UK 8%), US 4.4% (1997)

Imports: $132.3 billion (f.o.b., 1998 est.)

Imports—commodities: machinery, transport equipment, fuels, semifinished goods, foodstuffs, consumer goods, chemicals (1997)

Imports—partners: EU 65% (France 17%, Germany 15%, Italy 9%, UK 8%, Benelux 7%), US 6%, Japan 3% (1997)

Debt—external: $90 billion (1993 est.)

Economic aid—donor: ODA, $1.3 billion (1995)

Currency: 1 peseta (Pta) = 100 centimos

Exchange rates: pesetas (Ptas) per US$1—143.39 (January 1999), 149.40 (1998), 146.41 (1997), 126.66 (1996), 124.69 (1995), 133.96 (1994)
note: on 1 January 1999, the European Union introduced a common currency that is now being used by financial institutions in some member countries at the rate of 0.8597 euros per US$ and a fixed rate of 166.386 pesetas per euro; the euro will replace the local currency in consenting countries for all transactions in 2002

Fiscal year: calendar year

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