PM Plenković: Croatia's GDP growth of 2.8 percent is among highest in the EU

Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said today that Croatia recorded one of the highest GDP growth rates in the European Union in 2023 and that this is proof the government's economic policy is on the right track.

"GDP growth in 2023 was 2.8 percent, and this is already the twelfth quarter in a row that GDP is growing. For three full years, there have been positive trends in GDP growth," PM Plenković said ahead of the joint Croatian-Italian Ministerial Coordination Committee.

He added that real GDP grew by 15.5 percent compared to the fourth quarter of the pre-pandemic year 2019, which is the third strongest growth in the EU after Ireland and Malta.

He underscored the growth of household consumption and wage growth as well as the strong continuation of investments from domestic and European sources as factors that have influenced growth.

"We achieved what we planned, and we planned our economic policies well," said Plenković, recalling that the government had forecast 2.8 percent growth, which, he added, was five times higher than the growth in the EU and the euro area, where economic growth of 0.5 percent is expected.

Prime Minister Plenković is confident that at this rate of growth, Croatia will reach more than 75 percent of the EU's level of development. In 2016, the country's GDP was at 62 percent, and with the current growth it will reach more than 75 percent of the EU average, he said.

He stressed that Croatia is second in the EU in terms of GDP growth in 2023 compared to 2022, just behind Malta, and that its economic growth in the fourth quarter is currently the highest in the EU.

The Prime Minister expects GDP to continue growing at the same rate in 2024 and notes that this is significantly higher than the average expectation for the EU.

He believes that the latest data on GDP growth confirm the reliability of the government's economic and fiscal policy since the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Croatian result, in addition to the dedication of Croatian businessmen and the efforts and work of Croatian workers, he pointed out, was greatly influenced by the Government's measures to alleviate inflationary pressures worth a total of 7.2 billion euros, which had the effect of maintaining purchasing power and increasing personal consumption.
 
Text: Hina/Government

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