In the first three months of this year, the Romanian economy grew by 5.7%, gross series, compared to the same period in 2016, according to the first estimates published by the National Institute of Statistics (INS), which significantly exceed analysts’ forecasts.
Last year, the Romanian economy grew by 4.8%, the highest rate since 2008, and in 2015, the Romanian economy grew by 3.9%.
For the full year 2017, the Government is counting on an economic growth of 5.2%, while international institutions and most financial analysts estimate a rate between 4% and 4.5%.
Data recently published by the INS show an acceleration of economic growth in the first quarter of 2017 compared to the last quarter of 2016, when Romania’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 4.8%, gross series, compared to the same period in 2015.
In seasonally adjusted data, Romania’s GDP rose by 5.6% in the first quarter compared to the same period in 2016, after a 5% advance in the fourth quarter of 2016, 4.5% in the third quarter, and 5.7% in the second quarter of last year.
Regarding the evolution compared to the previous quarter, the growth in the first quarter of this year was 1.7%, following a 1.5% increase in Q4 2016, +0.7% in Q3, and +1.6% in the second quarter of 2016, according to the INS.
Analysts were expecting a slowdown in economic growth compared to 2016.
In 2016, from the perspective of GDP use, the growth was mainly due to final consumption expenditure of households, which rose by 7.5% in 2016 compared to 2015, contributing 4.5% to the growth.
Gross fixed capital formation, an indicator of investment in the economy, decreased by 3.3% compared to 2015, having a negative contribution of -0.8% to economic growth in 2016.
In 2016, industry contributed 23.1% to Romania’s GDP formation, construction – 6%, trade – 18.2%, the IT and communications sector – 5.5%, real estate transactions – 8.2%, and public administration and defense – 10.5%, with the rest being the contribution of other sectors.
Source: Profit
Frequently Asked Questions
What was Romania’s GDP growth in Q1 2017?
Romania’s economy grew by 5.7% (gross series) in the first quarter of 2017 compared to the same period in 2016.
How did the Q1 2017 growth compare to analyst expectations?
The 5.7% growth significantly exceeded analysts’ forecasts, which had generally predicted a slowdown compared to 2016.
Which sectors contributed most to Romania’s GDP in 2016?
In 2016, industry (23.1%) and trade (18.2%) were the largest contributors to the country’s GDP formation.