Spain posts first GDP drop in 15 years

MADRID: Spain's gross domestic product (GDP) shrank 0.2 percent in the third quarter compared to the previous three months for the first time in 15 years, in the fallout of the worsening global recession, EFE reported Saturday.

The decline was due to weak domestic demand due to a lack of consumer confidence, increased unemployment and the erosion of disposable income in soaring inflation, the country's central bank Banco de Espa��a said in its October bulletin.

Spain's gross domestic product climbed 0.9 percent relative to the third quarter of last year.

The last time Spain's gross domestic product (GDP) shrank was in 1993 when the economy contracted by 0.3 percent in the July-September quarter relative to the previous three months.