MADRID, Sept. 23 (Xinhua) -- Spain's gross domestic product (GDP) suffered a fall of 17.8 percent in the second quarter of 2020, data published by the Spanish Statistical Office (INE) showed on Wednesday.
The largest quarterly contraction ever registered in Spain, coincides with the State of Alarm that was put into place by the government of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to try to stop the spread of the COVID-19.
The State of Alarm effective between March 14 and June 21, virtually paralyzing the economy until the gradual easing of the restrictions since May.
Despite the severity of the economic impact of the pandemic, the contraction is less than INE's 18.5 percent prediction for the period made in July.
The fall in GDP was mainly the result of an 18.8-percent drop in internal demand, especially the result of a 20.4-percent drop in household spending, which a slight 0.3 percent increase in public spending failed to balance.
External demand was not as badly hit as internal consumption, suffering a reduction of 2.7 percent, less than in the first three months of the year. Enditem
