Bulgaria records 0.8% economic growth in Q4 2015 – flash estimate
Bulgaria’s economy posted 0.8 per cent growth in the fourth quarter of 2015, the National Statistical Institute (NSI) said in a flash estimate on February 12. In real terms, gross domestic product (GDP) in Bulgaria in the last three months of the year was 24 billion leva, or 12.3 billion euro.
In annual terms, economic growth in the fourth quarter was 3.1 per cent. NSI is due to announce preliminary growth figures for the fourth quarter and the full year on March 8.
The flash estimate’s seasonally-adjusted data showed an increase of 0.7 per cent in domestic consumption during the fourth quarter (up by 2.5 per cent on an annual basis), as well as a 0.8 per cent rise in gross fixed capital formation (up by 1.4 per cent compared to the fourth quarter of 2014).
Exports increased by 2.1 per cent during the fourth quarter (as well as being 0.7 per cent higher compared to the same period of 2014), while imports were up by 2.3 per cent compared to the previous three months (in annual terms, up by 1.7 per cent).
Bulgaria was one of 16 EU countries to record economic growth during the fourth quarter of 2015, with the EU economy as a whole and the euro zone both posting 0.3 per cent growth, according to a flash estimate by EU’s statistics body Eurostat. In the previous quarter, the EU28 grew by 0.4 per cent and the euro zone by 0.3 per cent, Eurostat said.
Among the 20 EU member states to report GDP figures, Bulgaria ranked sixth, tied with Spain, with Estonia topping the list (1.2 per cent), followed by Romania and Poland (1.1 per cent). Finland and Greece both posted negative economic growth, while eight countries were yet to report third-quarter estimates (Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Slovenia and Sweden).
In annual terms, the EU economy grew by 1.8 per cent compared to the last quarter of 2014, while the euro zone economy was up by 1.5 per cent.
(Photo: svilen001/sxc.hu)