Bulgaria records 0.5% economic growth in Q2 – flash estimate
Bulgaria’s economy posted 0.5 per cent growth in the second quarter of the year, the National Statistical Institute (NSI) said in a flash estimate on August 14. Bulgaria was one of 15 EU countries to post positive quarterly growth during that period, with the EU economy as a whole posting growth and the euro zone economy flat, according to a flash estimate by EU’s statistics body Eurostat.
In real terms, gross domestic product (GDP) in Bulgaria in April-June was 19.2 billion leva, or 9.82 billion euro. Compared to the second quarter of 2013, GDP was 1.6 per cent higher.
The flash estimate data showed an increase of two per cent in domestic consumption on an annual basis, as well as a 3.9 per cent rise in gross fixed capital formation. Exports were 2.9 per cent higher than in the second quarter of 2013, while imports rose by one per cent.
Eurostat data showed the EU economy rising by 0.2 per cent quarter-on-quarter, while GDP in the 18-member euro zone was flat. In the previous quarter, the EU28 growth rate was 0.3 per cent and the euro zone’s economy expanded by 0.2 per cent, Eurostat said.
A total of 15 countries saw their GDPs expand during the quarter, with Latvia posting the strongest growth at one per cent, followed by the United Kingdom and Hungary with 0.8 per cent growth. Four countries saw their economies shrink, with Romania hit the worst and posting one per cent decline.
The economies of France and the Czech Republic posted flat growth and seven countries were yet to report first-quarter data (Croatia, Denmark, Ireland, Greece, Luxembourg, Malta and Slovenia).
In annual terms, the EU economy grew by 1.2 per cent compared to the second quarter of 2013, while the euro zone economy rose by 0.7 per cent.
(Photo: Steve Ford/sxc.hu)
