The Croatian Bureau of Statistics (DZS) confirmed on Wednesday its first estimate of real gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the second quarter of this year of 2.8 percent compared to the same period last year. The economic growth rate from the second quarter of this year is slightly higher than the rate from the first quarter, which was 2.7 percent, and is at the level of that from the third quarter of 2015.
Thus, real GDP growth on an annual basis has been recorded for the seventh consecutive quarter, since the last quarter of 2014.
Faster growth compared to the EU average
Seasonally adjusted data, however, show that quarterly GDP in the second quarter of this year was real 0.5 percent higher compared to the previous quarter, and 1.9 percent compared to the same quarter last year.
According to these indicators, the Croatian economy grew faster than the average in the European Union both on an annual and quarterly basis.
Namely, according to the latest seasonally adjusted data from Eurostat, the EU economy grew by 0.4 percent in the second quarter on a quarterly basis, and by 1.8 percent on an annual basis.
The largest contribution to GDP growth from export growth
The largest contribution to GDP growth in the period from March to June was achieved by the growth of exports of goods and services, which amounted to 4.1 percent during that period. However, the overall contribution of net foreign demand was negative, as imports of goods and services grew at a higher rate of 6.7 percent at the same time.
On the other hand, domestic demand had a positive contribution, and among the components of domestic demand, the strongest positive impact on economic activity in the second quarter came from the growth of household final consumption expenditures by 3 percent. Although this is a slightly weaker growth compared to 3.1 percent from the first quarter, DZS data show that personal consumption has been growing since the beginning of 2015 and that its growth has been accelerating throughout that period – from 0.3 percent in the first quarter of last year, to 2.4 percent at the end of 2015, and in the first half of this year, it exceeded the rate of 3 percent.
The contribution of government consumption was also milder but positive, growing by 2.6 percent, after a 0.6 percent increase in the first three months of this year.
Gross investments in fixed capital increased the most, by 6.3 percent. Investments have also been growing since last year, specifically since the second quarter of 2015, but this rate is by far the highest, following 4.3 percent from the first quarter of this year and a growth of 3.7 percent in the last three months of last year.
DZS data on gross value added, on the other hand, show that GVA in the second quarter grew by 2.5 percent in real terms, with the largest contribution from the manufacturing industry, which recorded a growth of 4.9 percent. Construction simultaneously recorded a growth of 4.3 percent, trade 3.3 percent, agriculture 1.4 percent, and information and communication 1.9 percent,
