Bulgaria records 0.7% economic growth in Q2 2016 – flash estimate
Bulgaria’s economy posted 0.7 per cent growth in the second quarter of the year, the National Statistical Institute (NSI) said in a flash estimate on August 12. In real terms, gross domestic product (GDP) in Bulgaria in April-June was 21.75 billion leva, or 11.1 billion euro.
In annual terms, economic growth was three per cent, slightly higher than the 2.9 per cent annual growth recorded in the first quarter. NSI is due to announce preliminary growth figures for the second quarter on September 2.
The flash estimate data showed an increase of 0.4 per cent in domestic consumption during the second quarter (up by two per cent on an annual basis), as well as a 0.4 per cent rise in gross fixed capital formation (but down 4.5 per cent compared to the second quarter of 2015).
Exports shrank by 1.4 per cent during the second quarter, but were still two per cent higher than in the same period of 2015, while imports increased by 0.4 per cent compared to the previous three months (and grew by 2.2 per cent compared to the second quarter of last year).
Bulgaria was one of 18 EU countries to record economic growth during the second quarter of 2016, 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 economic growth was 0.5 per cent in the EU28 and 0.6 per cent in the euro area, Eurostat said.
Among the 21 EU member states to report GDP figures, Bulgaria ranked in the top half, with Romania posting the strongest growth at 1.5 per cent, followed by Hungary with 1.1 per cent growth, while Poland and Slovakia recorded 0.9 per cent increases.
Three countries reported flat economic growth (Austria, France and Italy), while seven countries were yet to report second-quarter estimates (Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta and Slovenia).
In annual terms, the EU economy grew by 1.8 per cent compared to the second quarter of 2015, while the euro zone economy was up by 1.6 per cent.
(Photo: Michael Faes/sxc.hu)
