Croatia’s Q3 GDP down 10% y-o-y
- by croatiaweek
- in Business
ZAGREB, Nov 27 (Hina) – Croatia’s economy contracted by 10% in the third quarter of this year compared to the same period last year, mostly due to the consequences of decreased consumption, but the contraction is lower than the record 15% fall in the second quarter.
The State Bureau of Statistics (DZS) published its initial estimate on Friday showing that GDP fell by 10% in Q3 year on year.
That is a little less than analysts had estimated. Seven analysts participating in a survey for Hina on average estimated a fall of 10.4% with their forecasts ranging from 9.5% to 11%.
It was the second quarter in a row that GDP had fallen, which means that the economy has gone into recession for the first time since 2014.
The fall in GDP however was somewhat less than in Q2 when the economy contracted by a record 15.4% as a consequence of the lockdown in an effort to contain the coronavirus pandemic.
The real GDP fall of 10% is the second biggest since 1995 when quarterly estimates of GDP started being made, DZS said.
Personal consumption down 7.5%
The economic downturn in the third quarter is mostly the consequence of weaker personal consumption, which is the major component of GDP.
According to today’s figures, household consumption sunk by 7.5% in the third quarter year on year.
Gross fixed capital investments fell by 3% y-o-y.
Exports of commodities and services contracted by 32.3% on the year, with commodity exports falling by 3% while exports of services plummeted by 45.3%.
Imports of commodities and services also shrank, by 14.1%, with commodity imports decreasing by 9.9% and services by 33.3% on the year.
The only item to increase in Q3 was government consumption, growing by 1.5% y-o-y.
Data below EU average
According to seasonally adjusted data, GDP increased by 6.9% in Q3 compared to the preceding quarter while contracting by 10% on the year.
The data is poorer than the European Union average. According to Eurostat, the EU’s Q3 GDP was up 11.6% quarter-on-quarter but down 4.3% on the year.
