According to the report from IHS Markit, the IHS Markit Spain Manufacturing PMI – a composite single figure indicator of manufacturing performance – posted a level of 49.9 in February. Down from 52.4 in January, the PMI slipped below the 50.0 no-change mark for the first time since November 2013 to thereby bring an end to more than five years of continuous sector growth. Panellists commented on a challenging economic environment in February, especially in key export markets.

The latest survey showed that new orders declined for the first time since July 2016, undermined in the main by a similar-sized fall in new export work. The deterioration in foreign orders was the first for nearly six years and reflected weakening demand in neighbouring European countries plus falling sales to China. Growth in production was undermined by the fall in new work. Although output rose since the previous month, it did so marginally and at the weakest rate in the current sequence of growth (which stretches back to December 2013).