March 15 (SeeNews) - Moldova's economic output edged up by 0.7% on the year in real terms in 2023, following a 5.9% decrease in 2022, the statistical office said on Friday.
Calculated at current prices, Moldova's gross domestic product (GDP) totalled 300.4 billion lei ($17.1 billion/15.6 billion euro) last year, the National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement, citing provisional data.
GDP growth in 2023 was driven by the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector, which added 2.6 percentage points (pp) to the overall rise in Moldova's economic output. Health and social insurance contributed 0.7 pp, while the information and communication sector contributed 0.5 pp. Manufacturing, construction, wholesale and retail trade, along with transport and storage sectors were at the opposite end, taking off 1.1 pp,1 pp, 0.6 pp, and 0.4 pp, respectively.
Net exports saw an annual increase of 5.1% in 2023, contributing 5.8 pp to real GDP growth. The final consumption expenditure of government and final household consumption declined by 3.3% and 0.5% on the year, respectively, shaving off 0.6 pp and 0.4 pp from real GDP growth. Gross fixed capital formation fell 1.3% year-on-year, leading to a 0.3 pp drop in GDP growth.
In the fourth quarter alone, Moldova's GDP totalled 83.6 billion lei, up by an adjusted 0.2% year-on-year. Compared to the third quarter of 2023, GDP remained flat in the fourth quarter.
The country's 2024 budget targets economic growth of 3.5%.
(1 euro =19.2618 Moldovan lei)