The Spanish manufacturing sector started 2017 in a similar fashion to how it ended 2016, with sharp rises in output and new orders recorded. The key highlight from the latest survey was the sharpest rise in employment since July 1998, while business sentiment picked up. On the price front, rates of both input cost and output price inflation quickened markedly amid reports of higher raw material costs.

The headline PMI ticked up to 55.6 in January from 55.3 in the previous month.