(Adds quote from economy minister and comparison with peers)
June 25 -
Spain on Tuesday revised higher its already solid gross domestic product growth for the first quarter, further outpacing economic expansion at other large European Union members.
The Spanish economy expanded 0.8% in the first quarter from the previous one, the National Statistics Institute (INE) said on Tuesday, as it revised the figure from an initial 0.7% released in April.
Analysts polled by Reuters estimated a 0.7% rise in gross domestic product on a quarter-on-quarter basis.
"It is the strongest quarterly advance in almost two years, reflecting the dynamism of our economy at the start of 2024," Spanish Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo said.
INE cited the robustness of the country's service sector and exports of services and goods.
Spain has been outperforming its major European peers, including Germany and France, whose economies grew 0.2% each in the first three months of the year, as well as Italy, which grew 0.3%.
On an annual basis, Spain's first-quarter economic output expanded 2.5%, INE said, from a preliminary 2.4%. Analysts had expected an average growth of 2.4%, according to the Reuters poll.
Cuerpo last week said his team is evaluating upgrading its target for the full year to "close to 2.5%" from the current 2%. (Reporting by Matteo Allievi, editing by Inti Landauro and Anil D'Silva)
