Capital Accumulation

This chapter provides and analyses new estimates of net capital stock and services for Spain over the last 170 years. The net capital (wealth) stock-GDP ratio rose over time and doubled in the last half a century. Capital services grew fast over the long run, accelerating in the 1920s and from the mid-1950s to 2007. Until 1975, their acceleration was assisted by an increase in the ‘quality’ of capital. Capital deepening proceeded steadily, accelerating from 1955 to 1985, and slowed down thereafter, for expanding sectors attracted less investment-specific technological progress. Although capital consumption rose over time, the rate of depreciation fell from 1970 to 2007, as the relative prices of new capital goods’ declined due to embodied technological change.