PIGS's comeback: Spain and the southern countries are driving the Eurozone's economic growth against a stagnant Germany and France (in Spanish)

In the case of Spain, GDP increased by 0.6% in the last quarter of the year, while Italy grew by 0.2% and Portugal by 0.8%. These figures contrast with those of Germany (-0.3%), France (0%), Sweden (0.1%) and Austria (0.2%). What was observed in the final quarter of the year is part of a trend that has been observed since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. While the German economy has remained frozen at its pre-war size, the southern countries have managed to maintain dynamism. Proof of this is that, compared to pre-Pandemic records, the GDP level of Spain, Portugal, Italy or Greece exceeds that of northern economies such as Germany, the Netherlands or Austria and also that of France. The Spanish economy is now 9.8% larger than in the fourth quarter of 2019 (the last one before the pandemic); Portugal's GDP is 10.8% higher, Italy's is 7.7% above and Greece's (no data yet for the fourth quarter) is 8.6% higher than then.