Menorca the only Balearic island not to see an upturn in its economy

Figures released by the Government last week showed that the archipelago's Gross Domestic Product had risen from -3.4% at the end of the third quarter of 2009 to -3.2% at the end of the year. Mallorca showed an improvement of 0.1% and Ibiza and Formentera 0.4% while the Menorcan economy continued its downward trend, dropping from -3.7% to -3.9% over the same period. For the last two years the Menorcan economy has been below that of the other Balearic Islands.

According to the Regional Minister for the Economy, Carles Manera, in view of the results seen in different sectors, "we expect the Balearic economy to come out of recession during 2010", which would be earlier than the rest of Spain, thanks to two distinguishing factors - public investment and the diversification of the services sector. In his opinion there are signs that "the horizon is becoming clearer" and that "we are coming out of the hole and going upwards". However, he cautions that we do not yet know how the Balearic economy will perform over the next few months but that it is "in harmony" with that of the Islands' main markets for tourism. He commented that Germany has "good expectations" for 2010 despite its recovery coming to a standstill in the final quarter of 2009. Last year the British GDP fell by 4.8% and although the Spanish drop was less, unemployment rose to almost 20%.

Construction sector

The latest figures released by the Official College of Architects show that the construction industry in Menorca is still facing hardship.

During the month of January approval was given for only fifteen new homes on the island. This is 32% below the 22 approved in January 2009 which was a poor month in itself.

Ten of the fifteen approved were in the Ferreries district, two in Ciutadella, one in Maó and one in Sant Lluís.

Interestingly, while the cost of building the ten flats in Ferreries totals 900,000 euros, the two dwellings in Ciutadella will cost 1,075,000 euros and will also have a larger surface area than the Ferreries project.

Unemployment up by 21%

The number of people unemployed in the Balearic Islands dropped by 510 (0.62%) in February, compared to January, with the total standing at 90,026. However, a comparison with February 2009 shows an increase of 21.06% which is higher than the national average of 18.63%. Nationwide, the unemployment total now stands at 4,130,625.

However, although the archipelago as a whole showed a decrease in the number of people out of work, by island only Mallorca and Ibiza followed this trend with figures of -0.5% and -1.9% respectively; Menorca and Formentera both registered increases in unemployment, 0.3% in the former case and 6% in the latter.