Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in real terms registered a year-on-year reduction of 5.4% in the first quarter of 2021 (rate of change of -6.1% in the previous quarter), reflecting the effects of the general confinement enacted earlier this year due to the deterioration of the COVID-19 pandemic.
It should be noticed that the evolution in year-on-year terms is influenced by a base effect, since, for the first time, the comparison focuses on a quarter already affected by the pandemic in the last month (March 2020). In the first quarter 2021 the contribution of domestic demand to the year-on-year rate of change of GDP was more negative than that observed in the previous quarter, reflecting, to a large extent, the more intense reduction of private consumption. Net external demand presented a less pronounced negative contribution in the first quarter, although Exports of Goods and Services continued to diminish more significantly than Imports of Goods and Services, with particular emphasis on the severe reduction of non-resident tourism.
Compared to the fourth quarter of 2020, GDP decreased by 3.3% in real terms, after the slight increase (0.2%) registered in the previous quarter, reflecting the impact of mobility limitations as a result of the worsening of the pandemic crisis at the beginning of the quarter. The contributions of domestic demand and net external demand to the quarter-on-quarter rate of change of GDP were both negative, being particularly intense in the first case.