November 11 (SeeNews) - North Macedonia's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is expected to grow by 4% in 2021, the European Commission (EC) said on Thursday, raising its May forecast for 3.7% economic economic expansion.
North Macedonia's economy is seen growing by 3.9% in 2022 and 3.7% in 2023, the Commission said in its Autumn 2021 Economic Forecast report.
"North Macedonia’s economic recovery is making good progress, as both domestic and foreign demand are strengthening. The upswing is expected to gradually solidify in 2022 and 2023, based on a further firming of private consumption and foreign demand," the Commission said.
Private consumption is projected to increase by 4.8% in 2021 and 3.9% in 2022 after decreasing by 5.6% last year. Public consumption should rise by 2.2% in 2021 and 0.6% in 2022 after growing by 10.1% in 2020, the report reads.
Inflation is expected to accelerate to 3.3% in 2021, from 1.2% in 2020, before it slows down to 2.1% in 2022 and 1.8% in 2023.
General government deficit is expected to shrink to 6.1% of GDP in 2021 from 8.2% in 2020, the Commission said. For 2022 and 2023, the deficit is forecast at 4.9% and 4.3%, respectively.
For the EU, the Commission is projecting an economic growth of 5% in 2021, followed by a 4.3% expansion in 2022 and 2.5% growth in 2023.
North Macedonia's economic output shrank by 4.5% in 2020.
The European Council granted the status of EU candidate country to North Macedonia in 2005.