MADRID, June 25 (Xinhua) -- The Spanish economy grew 0.6 percent in the first quarter of 2025, the Spanish Statistical Office (INE) confirmed on Wednesday.

Although the growth was 0.1 percent down on the last quarter of 2024, the data shows that Spain's economy enjoyed a positive start to the year in a global context dominated by U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff war and the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza.

Spain's gross domestic product (GDP) was boosted by positive levels of private consumption and investment in the first three months of 2025.

Private consumption increased by 0.6 percent, while investment was up 0.9 percent, which is 0.3 percent more than expected, but down from the 3.0 percent rise from the last three months of 2024.

"The strong growth momentum of the Spanish economy at the beginning of the year has been confirmed. In 2024, Spain was the advanced country with the highest growth, and in 2025, everyone from the IMF to the OECD expects this to continue," said Carlos Cuerpo, minister of economy, trade, and business, during an interview with Spanish TV network RTVE Wednesday morning.

Cuerpo also noted that the "good momentum" of Spain's economy has been reflected in job creation, with around 230,000 people registering with the country's Social Security system since the start of 2025.

However, the Governor of the Bank of Spain, Jose Luis Escriva sounded a warning note when the organization reduced its expectations for the growth of Spain's economy by 0.3 percent from 2.7 percent to 2.4 percent for 2025 and down by 0.1 percent to 1.8 percent for 2026 due to the "great uncertainty" caused by the tariff war. ■