Spain has managed to drag itself out of the recession in the first quarter, according to the latest figures published by the Central Bank on Friday, becoming the last major world economy to return to growth. Analysts however, warned that any growth would be short lived and 2010 would likely record negative growth overall.

The Spanish economy experienced a growth of 0.1 per cent during the first quarter of the year after having lived six consecutive quarters of contraction.

Spain fell into the worst recession in decades during the second half of 2008 as the global financial meltdown combined with the Spanish property collapse smashed all previous growth.

Earlier this week Spain released its latest unemployment rate which had swelled to 20 per cent for the first time since 1997, double the European Union average, according to the National Institute of Statistics (INE).

Also earlier this week, Standard & Poor’s credit rating agency downgraded Spanish government debt over the country’s growing economic uncertainty.

Image credits.

Related news articles:

1. The economy in Spain is still in pain, worst performance in over 30 years
2. Bank of Spain: First quarter GDP shrank 1.8 per cent
3. Fragile Rebound in Spain, Warns IMF
4. Spanish economy still in recession after 7 quarters
5. Spanish economy heading right back to recession