Growth of the Croatian Economy Accelerated to 3.4 Percent

Thanks primarily to the increase in personal consumption and investments, the Croatian economy grew by 3.4 percent year-on-year in the second quarter, faster than in the previous quarter.

The State Bureau of Statistics (DZS) published on Wednesday the first estimate indicating that the gross domestic product (GDP) in the second quarter increased in real terms by 3.4 percent compared to the same period last year. This marks the 18th consecutive quarter of economic growth, and it is faster than in the previous quarter, when the growth was 2.9 percent.

Accelerated Growth of Consumption and Investments

According to DZS data, household consumption, which is the largest component of GDP, increased in the last quarter by 4.0 percent year-on-year, significantly faster than in the previous quarter, when the growth was 1.7 percent.

Gross investments in fixed capital increased by 5.2 percent, faster than the 4.5 percent in the previous quarter.

Government consumption rose by 2.4 percent, after strengthening by 5.8 percent in the previous quarter. Imports of goods and services increased by 3.3 percent, significantly less than the 8.8 percent in the previous quarter. Specifically, imports of goods rose by 0.9 percent, while services increased by 16.4 percent.

Exports of goods and services, on the other hand, grew by 1.6 percent year-on-year in the last quarter, significantly slower than the 6 percent growth in the previous quarter. Exports of goods increased by 3.7 percent, while exports of services fell by 0.3 percent.

Growth Still Faster than the EU Average

According to seasonally adjusted data from DZS, the economy grew by 3.2 percent year-on-year and by 1.2 percent quarter-on-quarter in the second quarter. Thus, the growth of the domestic economy remains significantly faster than the average in the European Union (EU).

Eurostat recently reported that in the second quarter, the EU economy, according to seasonally adjusted data, grew by 0.2 percent compared to the previous quarter, while it increased by 1.5 percent year-on-year.

The eurozone economy, on the other hand, grew by 0.1 percent quarter-on-quarter and by 1.4 percent year-on-year in that quarter.