Thus, Spain shows itself to be the developed economy which will display the highest growth this year and will be more than nine decimals above that estimated for the Eurozone (+1.7%), although it will grow less than other smaller advanced economies such as Iceland (+5.7%), Malta (+4.1%), Luxemburg (+3.7%), Ireland (+3.5%) and Switzerland (+2.7%).
The 2.1% growth projection for 2018 places Spain half a percentage point above the average expansion predicted for the Eurozone and only behind the EEUU (+2.5%) among the biggest advanced economies.
The biggest growth in Spain predicted by the IMF reflects in the unemployment figures predicted to go down in 2017 to 17.7% and to 16.6% the following year, compared to previous projections of 17.9% and 17%, respectively. In spite of this improvement in expectations, the unemployment rate in Spain continues way above the Eurozone average, this year at 9.4% and in 2017 at 9.1%, only behind Greece, with unemployment of 21.9% , and 16.6% in 2018.