Gross Domestic Product in volume registered a year-on-year rate of change of 4.2% and a quarter-on-quarter rate of change of 2.9%

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in real terms registered a year-on-year rate of change of 4.2% in the third quarter of 2021. In the previous quarter, the year-on-year rate of change of GDP was 16.1%, due to the strong impact of the pandemic in the second quarter 2020.

The contribution of domestic demand to the year-on-year rate of change of GDP was positive, but less intense than in the previous quarter, following the partial dissipation of the base effect. The contribution of net external demand remained negative in the third quarter, with an increase of Imports of Goods and Services slightly more pronounced than that of Exports of Goods and Services. It should be noted that in the third quarter of 2021, both import and export deflators registered significant increases, largely influenced by the evolution of the prices of energy products and raw materials, extending the loss of terms of trade already observed in the previous quarter.

Compared to the second quarter of 2021, GDP increased 2.9% in volume, with a positive contribution of net external demand to the quarter-on-quarter rate of change of GDP (negative contribution in the second quarter) and a less intense positive contribution of domestic demand in the third quarter. In the third quarter, GDP growth reflected the gradual decrease of the pandemic restrictions, after two quarters with opposite results: a strong GDP reduction in the first quarter (-3.3%), determined by the general confinement, and an increase of 4.4% in the second quarter following the lifting of restrictions on mobility.