Puerto Rico Consumer Spending Dropped 8.7% from 2012-2017
- Bureau of Economic Analysis data confirm island contraction
- BEA is working to eventually estimate commonwealth’s GDP
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Spending by Puerto Rico residents fell by 8.7% from 2012 through 2017, and business investment grew by 2% as the island’s population declined, according to data from the U.S. Commerce Department.
The data support Puerto Rico’s own calculations that its economy has contracted for more than a decade, with residents leaving the island for work on the U.S. mainland.