The IMF keeps Spain among the most dynamic economies in Europe
The organism foresees a rise in GDP of 2.1% this year and of 1.8% next year
BarcelonaThe International Monetary Fund (IMF) maintains Spain among the most dynamic economies in the euro area, both this year and next. The institution, in its report World Economic Outlook, confirms its expectations that the Spanish economy will grow in 2026 at a rate of 2.1%, which represents a slowdown of seven tenths compared to the 2.8% expansion in 2025, and in 2027 it maintains the growth forecast of 1.8%.
In this way, the IMF maintains unchanged since March the growth forecasts for Spain's GDP, and has confirmed them both in its report World Economic Outlook published in April and now in the July update.
At the press conference to present the forecast update, Petya Koeva Brooks, deputy director of the IMF's research department, highlighted for Spain "better-than-expected" results in the first quarter and assured that some energy support measures compensated for the negative impact of rising energy prices.
"It should be noted that the high proportion of renewable energies has also contributed to Spain's resilience," she said, adding that she expects domestic demand to continue driving the growth of the Spanish economy, although she warned that the risks to this outlook are tilted to the downside.
In contrast to the stability of the projections for Spain, the IMF has once again revised down the forecasts for the euro area and some of the main economies, such as Germany or France. Thus, the institution has cut the euro area's GDP growth forecast by two tenths, to 0.9% in 2026, while maintaining the expectation for 2027 at 1.2%.
The downgrade in expected euro area growth reflects the estimated weakening in the expansion of the two largest economies. Specifically, it has lowered the expected increase in Germany's GDP to 0.7% in 2026 and 1% in 2027, cutting the previous forecast for this year by one tenth and for next year by two. The estimate for France is 0.6% and 0.9% next year.
The international financial organization warns that an escalation of the crisis in the Middle East is "the main downside risk" for the IMF's forecasts. The organization has slightly lowered its global economic growth forecast for 2026 to 3%, one tenth less than in April, with an uneven impact of the war in Iran, counteracted in some countries by advances in artificial intelligence (AI).
Growth in advanced economies stands at 1.7% in 2026 and 1.8% in 2027, while in emerging and developing markets, the slowdown reaches 3.8% in 2026, before recovering to 4.5% in 2027. Among the major economies, the United States stands out, which will go from a GDP increase of 2.1% in 2025 to 2.3% this year; or China, from 5% to 4.6%, according to the IMF.
