Bulgaria records 0.4% economic growth in Q2 – flash estimate
Bulgaria’s economy posted 0.4 per cent growth in the second quarter of the year, the National Statistical Institute (NSI) said in a flash estimate on August 14. In real terms, gross domestic product (GDP) in Bulgaria in April-June was 20.9 billion leva, or 10.7 billion euro.
In annual terms, economic growth was 2.2 per cent, up from two per cent annual growth recorded at the end of the first quarter. NSI is due to announce preliminary growth figures for the second quarter on September 4.
The flash estimate data showed an increase of 0.7 per cent in domestic consumption during the second quarter (up by 2.1 per cent on an annual basis), as well as a 0.3 per cent rise in gross fixed capital formation (up 1.4 per cent compared to the second quarter of 2014).
Exports shrank by 6.3 per cent during the second quarter, but were still 3.6 per cent higher than in the same period of 2014, while imports declined by 2.5 per cent compared to the previous three months (but grew by 7.5 per cent compared to the second quarter of last year).
Bulgaria was one of 20 EU countries to record economic growth during the second quarter of 2015, with the EU economy as a whole posting growth of 0.4 per cent and the euro zone up by 0.3 per cent, according to a flash estimate by EU’s statistics body Eurostat. In the previous quarter, the EU28 and the euro zone both expanded by 0.4 per cent, Eurostat said.
Among the 22 EU member states to report GDP figures, Bulgaria ranked in the middle of the pack, with Latvia posting the strongest growth at 1.2 per cent, followed by Spain and Sweden with one per cent growth. Greece posted a surprising 0.8 per cent GDP increase during the quarter.
Finland, still in recession, was the only country to post negative economic growth (-0.4 per cent) and France’s economic growth was flat, while six countries were yet to report second-quarter estimates (Croatia, Denmark, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta and Slovenia).
In annual terms, the EU economy grew by 1.6 per cent compared to the second quarter of 2014, while the euro zone economy was up by 1.2 per cent.
(Photo: svilen001/sxc.hu)
