Croatia Fixed Investment (ann. var. %)

Investment in Croatia

GDP grows at softest pace since Q1 2021 in Q4 2022

GDP growth lost steam, falling to 4.0% year on year in the fourth quarter, below 5.2% in the third quarter. Q4’s reading marked the softest expansion since Q1 2021.

Household spending growth fell to 1.3% in Q4 (Q3: +5.6% yoy), marking the weakest expansion since Q1 2021. This slowdown more than offset public consumption growth accelerating to 6.8% in Q4 (Q3: +1.3% yoy). Meanwhile, fixed investment growth accelerated to 9.6% in Q4, from the 8.0% expansion in the prior quarter.

Turning to the external sector, exports of goods and services growth fell to 14.2% in Q4 (Q3: +23.3% yoy). Similarly, imports of goods and services growth moderated to 14.6% in Q4 (Q3: +30.5% yoy), marking the weakest reading since Q1 2021.

FocusEconomics analysts see the economy expanding 0.1% in 2023, which is down 0.4 percentage points from last month’s forecast, and 1.8% in 2024.