Funcas, which is the foundation for savings banks, believes that Balearic economic growth will decrease to 2.5% in 2017. The Balearics, according to Funcas forecasts, will experience one of the most significant slowdowns because of the impact of the UK referendum result: the reason being the important contribution of UK tourism to Balearic GDP.
For this year, however, there is more positive news. Funcas estimates that Balearic growth in 2016 will be 3.5%, the highest among all Spanish regions. Employment is expected to show a 4.7% increase this year, falling to 3.2% in 2017. The unemployment rate will nevertheless fall lower next year - to 13.4%. This year's forecast is 14.7%.
The Balearics is one of seven regions where growth is expected to be above a national average of 3.1%: the others are the Basque Country, Castile-La Mancha, Catalonia, Galicia, Madrid and Valencia.