MADRID, Jan 27 Reuters Spain39;s gross domestic product grew a fasterthanexpected 5.5 in 2022 as the country avoided a recession in the final quarter despite fears of a global slowdown, official data showed on Friday.

Spain39;s GDP grew 0.2 in the fourth quarter from the previous quarter and 2.7 from the same quarter in 2021, the National Statistics Institute said on Friday.

Public spending drove the economy in the last quarter of the year, compensating for a contraction in private consumption and allowing Spain to notch a seventh consecutive quarter of growth.

Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast 0.1 quarteronquarter growth and 2.2 yearonyear expansion.

The final GDP data beat both the original official forecast for the year, which was 4.5, and the 5 anticipated by Prime Minister in late 2022. The statistics agency also revised up previous quarters.

Madrid expects GDP growth will slow to 2.1 in 2023, though many analysts expect a sharper slowdown.

Unemployment data released on Thursday showed a rise in the jobless rate in the last three months of 2022 as employers anticipated a slowdown. 

Spain has already received 31 billion euros 33.69 billion of European recovery funds, which started to flow into the economy in the last quarter.

Exports, one of the driving forces of the Spanish economy in 2022, came to a screeching halt in the fourth quarter as the global economy slowed. Retail, hotels and restaurants also ended their growth streak.

The Spanish economy…