An overview of the Spanish economy’s performance since the pandemic following the revision of national accounts: a European comparison

Rationale The Banco de España Business Activity Survey (EBAE) provides highly valuable, real-time information on a broad sample of Spanish firms’ turnover, employment, costs and prices. This helps to diagnose current economic developments. Takeaways •Firms perceive an increase in turnover in 2024 Q4, compared with the decreases in the same quarter of 2022 and 2023. Those located in the Valencia region have reported adverse turnover developments as a result of the impact of the flash floods. •Inflationary pressures have ticked up slightly in Q4, in both the cost of inputs and selling prices. •The percentage of firms affected by higher borrowing costs and insufficient demand has fallen, but economic policy uncertainty and labour shortages remain high. •In a module on advanced technologies, 3% of respondent firms reported a high or moderate use of artificial intelligence (AI) systems and 11% are experimenting with them. For firms not yet using AI, the main barriers are a lack of skilled staff, prohibitive costs and significant uncertainty about the legal ramifications. •Lastly, based on the new series, the tax revenue developments since late 2019 are consistent with those of the macroeconomic bases in cumulative terms. In other words, the so-called tax residuals accumulated following the pandemic are now virtually zero.