IBERSOL | 2019 Annual Report

2019 ANNUAL REPORT slowed to 2.3% in 2019, due to more moderate growth of employ- ment and stabilisation of salary growth. GFCF continues to be the most dynamic component in terms of spending, with corporate investment holding a special place. The strong growth of 7.3% in 2019 is closely linked to construction, es- pecially in the residential sector and in large scale infrastructure projects, some of which benefitted from European funding. The situation in Spain Recent data from the OECD and the Bank of Spain point to a 2% increase in Spanish GDP in 2019, with more moderate expansion expected for the next three years, against a backdrop in which in- ternal demand will continue to be the main engine of growth, but at a lower pace than was registered over the past years. Decisions regarding consumption of durable goods and corporate and residential investment, that had been postponed during the cri- sis, were at the root of the economic upturn, in a recovery process that progressively wore itself out, which goes a long way to explai- ning the slowing down of internal demand, in its different compo- nents. 9