Moldova's economic output fell by 5.9% on the year in real terms in 2022, following a 13.9% increase in 2021, the country's statistical office said.
Calculated at current prices, Moldova's gross domestic product (GDP) totalled 272.6 billion lei ($14.6 billion/13.8 billion euro) in 2022, the National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement on Wednesday, citing provisional data.
GDP growth in 2022 came mainly on the back of a drop in agriculture output, by 2.7%, and a decrease of 0.8% in each of construction and real estate. Financial and insurance activities, information and communication, as well as wholesale and retail trade were at the opposite end, marking growth of 0.4%, 0.3% and 0.2%, respectively.
Final household consumption declined by 4% in 2022, gross fixed capital formation fell by 6.8%, decreasing Moldova's GDP by 3.3% and 1.7%, respectively.
In the fourth quarter alone, Moldova's GDP totalled 74.8 billion lei, down by an adjusted 11.8% year-on-year. Compared to the third quarter of 2022, GDP increased by an adjusted 2,9% in the fourth quarter.
The country's 2023 budget targets economic growth of 2%.
(1 euro =19.7662 Moldovan lei)