ZAGREB, February 27, 2019 - Croatia's GDP grew by 2.3% in the last quarter of 2018, thus decelerating in comparison to Q3 when it grew at a rate of 2.8% year on year, the national statistical office (DZS) reported on Wednesday.
The DZS first estimates of the GDP growth in the last quarter of 2018 were actually lower than expected by eight economic analysts polled by Hina, whose average estimate was 2.6%.
A major positive contribution to the economic growth was made by household consumption in Q4. It grew 3.9% as against 2.7% in Q3 on the year.
The exports of commodities and services rose by 1.3% in Q4 2018 on the year. In parallel, the imports jumped by 6.6%.
Croatia's GDP was on the ascending line for 18 quarters in a row.
The seasonally adjusted data show that Q4 GDP strengthened by 0.1% compared to Q3 quarter to quarter.
In terms of quarter to quarter rates, Croatia's growth was slower than the European Union average (0.2%).
On the other hand, seasonally adjusted data show that Croatia's GDP increased 2.4% in Q4 compared to Q4 2017, and thus Croatia fared better than the EU average, 1.4%, year on year.
Croatia's economy throughout 2018 grew by 2.6% compared to 2017 when the growth rate was 2.9%.
Economic analyst Zdeslav Šantić underscores a positive accelerated growth of more than 6% in gross fixed capital formation in Q4 2018 as against 3.7% in the previous quarter. He told Hina that such a robust growth in investments was a record high since Q1 2017.
These figures show that the growth of national economy was not based only on tourism but also on investments, according to Šantić's explanation.
The director general of the Croatian Employers Association (HUP), Davor Majetić, told Hina on Wednesday that the slower growth of Croatia's GDP was not unexpected, saying that a further slowdown could be expected if Croatia continues to be slower than its competition in reform implementation and if reforms are not quick and comprehensive.
"The growth slowdown is not unexpected," said Majetić, adding that employers on several occasions stressed that, at the pace changes and reforms are implemented by the government, Croatia cannot expect bigger growth than between 2 and 3 percent.
Majetić said that in the last quarter of 2018, the biggest increase was recorded due to consumption. He said this was related to measures implemented by the Finance Ministry which enabled employers to pay out additional bonuses free of tax. He said that over one billion kuna was issued to citizens, adding that this was visible in consumption statistics.
"The result of that is that at this moment, productivity grows at a slower pace than salaries, which is expected, given the disruption on the labour market," Majetic said
More news about Croatia’s GDP can be found in the Business section.
