April 1 (SeeNews) - Croatia's economy is expected to expand by 4.7% in 2021, the World Bank said, revising downwards its January forecast for 5.4% growth.
The World Bank sees Croatia's gross domestic product (GDP) growing by 4.9% in 2022, it said in the spring edition of its Europe and Central Asia Economic Update report published on Tuesday.
Economic activity in Croatia is expected to gradually recover from the decline recorded last year, the World Bank said, noting that successful implementation of the vaccination strategy and epidemiological measures in Croatia and Europe are expected to put the pandemic under control by the summer of 2021, allowing countries to partially lift travel restrictions.
Croatia's economic output declined by a real 8.4% last year, compared with 2019, the country's statistical office said in its first estimate of the country's economic performance in February.
"The large reliance on tourism has made Croatia highly vulnerable to adverse external shocks such as the current pandemic," the World Bank noted, adding that the GDP contraction in Croatia in 2020 was one of the largest in the EU.
The World Bank expects the GDP of the Western Balkans region to grow by 4.4% in 2021, more than its earlier estimate of 3.5% growth, the World Bank said.
The bank estimates the decline in the economic output of the Western Balkans region in 2020 at 3.6% in the report.