Czech Republic: Economic growth picks up in the final quarter of 2018
Annual GDP growth accelerated from 2.4% in the third quarter to 2.9% in the fourth quarter of 2018 in seasonally- and price-adjusted terms, according to preliminary data released by the Czech Statistical Office (CSO) on 15 February. The print came well above market expectations and proved the economy’s resilience amid a broader slowdown in the Eurozone, its main export market. The main contributors to the fourth-quarter expansion were capital spending, buttressed by soaring public investment, and household consumption growth, propped up by the extremely tight labor market. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, GDP growth also picked up from 0.6% in Q3 to 1.0% in Q4, marking the strongest gain in a year-and-a-half. For the year, growth came in at 3.0%, decelerating from the strong 4.5% expansion logged in 2017.
More detailed national accounts data will be released on 1 March.