Service Sector Activities Continue to Grow in Spain

Forex - Spain's services sector has experienced rapid growth, supported by a sharp increase in new business and recovery activities following the flooding disaster that struck several regions of the country in early 2024. According to a survey conducted by S&P Global, companies continued to hire additional workers despite capacity constraints, as confidence in the outlook remains high and backlogs of work are rising again.

The main index of the survey, the Hamburg Commercial Bank (HCOB) services purchasing managers' index (PMI), rose from 53.1 points in December to 57.3 points. Market expectations had indicated that the index would increase to 54.1 points.

HCOB Economist Feldhusen commented on the PMI data, stating, "These are impressive figures for the year-end. The HCOB Composite PMI for Spain significantly increased in December, particularly with robust results in the services sector. Production also showed solid growth. Given these positive developments, it is quite realistic to expect Spain's economic growth to reach 3% in 2024." The HCOB composite index also rose from 53.2 points to 56.8 points in the same month.