The Spanish economy experienced growth of 0.3 percent in the first three months of 2011, according to the advance study of the National Accountancy report published by the National Institute of Statistics (INE) Friday.
The 0.3 percent increase in GNP is an improvement on the 0.2 percent growth seen in the last quarter of 2010 and on the 0.1 percent growth seen in the same period a year ago.
The main reason for the improved performance is the growth in demand from outside of Spain and an increase in exports.
The full details of the National Accountancy report will be published on May 18, but the INE figures are 0.1 percent up on the predictions made recently by the Bank Of Spain, which said there would be 0.2 percent growth in Spain 's GDP in the first quarter and an expansion of 0.7 percent over the whole of 2011.
Spain' s GNP has now increased for the last nine months, after remaining static in the second quarter of 2010 and falling by 1.4 percent in the first quarter of last year.
The INE report stresses that the improved performance comes as a result of increased demand from outside of Spain, while national demand is still failing to expand, perhaps due to the continued worries over unemployment and the effects of unemployment itself in a country where 21 percent of the population is currently out of work.
Meanwhile, the Spanish government has forecast growth of 1.3 percent for 2011 with that increasing to 2.3 percent in 2011. These predictions are higher than the forecasts of both the Bank of Spain and the IMF, although the new INE figures may allow the government of Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero some grounds for optimism./.