The economy of the Canary Islands will grow by 3.2% during this 2024, according to data from the Savings Banks Foundation (Funcas). It is the second community that experiences such high growth above the average, only behind Baleares, which will be 3.5%.
Likewise, the estimates of the past year 2023, which are not yet official, give the Canary Islands a GDP growth of 4.0%, mainly due to tourism, while Madrid closes the podium with a growth forecast of 2.6%.
At the national level, the average GDP growth stands at 2.5%. According to the forecast in this latest Funcas report, inflation will be at 3.3%, although it will decrease in later years. For its part, unemployment will stand at 11.2%, a not very good figure for Europe but positive compared to the last decade.
The improvement will be 2.9% in Madrid; 2.5 in Galicia; 2.4% in Catalonia; 2.3% in Andalusia; 2.2% in the Valencian Community, Navarra and the Basque Country; 2.1% in Aragon, Cantabria; 2.0% in Asturias, Castilla y León, Castilla-La Mancha, Extremadura and La Rioja; and 1.8% in Murcia.
With regard to employment, the recovery is even more profound, with 10 communities already below 10% unemployment and others that are approaching it, such as Castilla-La Mancha, previously with rates among the highest. Unemployment has decreased since 2019 in communities such as the Canary Islands, Andalusia, Castilla-La Mancha and Extremadura.
Another reason that influences the decrease in unemployment is the weight of certain industries, among which the automotive industry stands out, from which Galicia and Castilla y León benefit, which are approaching the average for this reason, or Aragon.
Regarding inflation, Funcas has detected differences much higher than the more homogeneous growth of wages, with increases in the accumulated CPI since January 2019 of 21.5% in Castilla-La Mancha or 20.6% in Galicia for only 17.1% in Madrid and 18.5% in Catalonia.
