By Xavier Fontdegloria

The Spanish economy in the second quarter grew more slowly than previously thought, at less than half the pace of the initial estimate, signaling that the recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic has been weaker than expected.

Spain's gross domestic product rose 1.1% in the second quarter compared with the previous three-month period, according to a second estimate released by the country's statistics office INE on Thursday. This was down from the 2.8% initially estimated.

Lower growth in household spending, along with higher imports, prompted the big downward revision, the data showed.

On an annual basis, the Spanish economy grew 17.5% in the quarter, according to the second estimate, down from 19.8% previously estimated.

The Spanish government expects the economy to expand 6.5% this year and to return to pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2021. The revision for the second quarter, however, is likely to weaken growth prospects.

In 2020, Spain's economy contracted by 10.8%, one of the sharpest declines in the eurozone.

Write to Xavier Fontdegloria at xavier.fontdegloria@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 23, 2021 06:17 ET (10:17 GMT)

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