Spain’s population falls as unemployment hits a record

Spain is now on par with Greece with having one of the worst jobless rates in Europe.

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Official figures show more than 6.2 million Spaniards don't have work, pushing the country's unemployment rate to a record 27.2 per cent.

In October 2006, it was 7.6 per cent. It's even worse for those under 24 years of age, with the youth unemployment rate at a staggering 57.2 per cent.

There is evidence young people are fleeing the country to find work in other parts of Europe and the world.

In fact, earlier this week, Spain's population fell for the first time since annual records began.

More than 200,000 people left the country, pushing its population to 47.1 million. Most of those who left, were immigrants, mostly from former colonies in Latin America.

Spain was hit hard by the European financial crisis in 2008, with its property market crashing, and banks in desperate need of a bailout package from the EU.

It's financial sector hasn't recovered, and only today the eurozone's biggest bank, Spain's Santander posted a 25.9 per cent fall in quarterly profit.

Spain's economy is continuing to shrink. Earlier this week, the Bank of Spain said GDP contracted by 0.5 per cent in the first quarter of 2013, slowing from a 0.8 per cent fall in the previous quarter.

Its government expects a full year contraction of between 1 and 1.5 per cent this year, compared with a 1.37 per cent fall in 2012.

As the European summer approaches, Spain will be hoping the seasonal influx of tourists provide a welcome boost to its economy.

Spain is the world's second most popular tourism destination, behind the United States and a head of France according to the World Tourism Organisation, but tourist revenue is falling. International tourism receipts rose by around 1 per cent last year, compared with an 8 per cent increase in 2010/11.

So how does Spain compare with the rest of the European Union?

Greece recorded an unemployment rate of 27.2 per cent last week for the month of January, but we'll have to wait until June to get a comparative measure with this current Spanish result, because that's when Greece will release its first quarter labour force survey.


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Published 25 April 2013 6:25pm
Updated 26 August 2013 2:01pm
By Ricardo Goncalves
Source: SBS

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