May 27 (SeeNews) - Croatia's economy expanded by 7.0% year-on-year in real terms in the first quarter, following 9.7% growth in the last quarter of 2021 and 0.6% contraction in the first quarter of last year, the statistical office said on Friday.
"That increase led to reaching a record high GDP in real terms, as compared to first quarters of previous years," the statistical office said in first estimate of gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the first quarter of 2022.
Household consumption increased by 6.3% year-on-year in real terms in the first three months of 2022, while government spending rose by 5.9%.
Gross fixed capital formation grew by 7.9%, which also led to an increase in the volume of construction works.
In the first quarter of 2022, the export of goods and services recorded a 29.4% increase in real terms, while the import of goods and services recorded a 25% growth rate.
The first estimate shows that the quarterly gross value added (GVA) increased in real terms by 6.3% in the first quarter of 2022 compared to the same quarter of 2021, based on non-adjusted data, the statistical office said.
The quarterly growth of GVA was recorded in all activities and it was mostly driven by wholesale and retail trade, transportation and storage, and accommodation and food service activities.
Croatia's economic output grew by a real 10.2% in 2021, after a drop of 8.4% in 2020.