December 29 (SeeNews) - Kosovo's gross domestic product (GDP) increased by a real 3.8% year-on-year in the third quarter of 2016, after growing by 3.3% in the second quarter, Kosovo's statistics agency said on Thursday.
The improvement was caused mainly by accelerating growth in the wholesale and retail trade and real estate sectors, statistics agency data showed.
Calculated in current prices, Kosovo's third-quarter GDP totalled 1.67 billion euro ($1.74 billion).
Gross capital formation added 1.1% year-on-year in the third quarter, whereas import of goods and services increased by 5.1%.
Final consumption of households added 6.8%, whereas export of goods and services grew 2.5%.
Final consumption of the government edged down 2%.
In October, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecast that Kosovo's economy will expand by 4.1% in 2016. In its previous forecast in April the IMF projected GDP growth of 3.4%.
Kosovo's economy expanded by 4% last year, after posting 1.2% growth in 2014.