Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries had to take measures to mitigate its economic consequences. The measures for restricting the economic activities and the movement of people have affected the aggregates of quarterly national accounts as well as the quality and availability of many data sources that are commonly used in estimating the gross domestic product (GDP). Data show that the pandemic has largely led to a slowdown in Croatian economy since mid-March 2020.
However, since the first quarter of 2021, the economic activity has shown a continuous upward trend, and in the third quarter of 2022, GDP was 5.2% higher than in the same quarter of 2021. When observing the third quarter over the years, this year was marked by the highest level of real GDP in the last twenty years.
At the same time, the nominal GDP growth in the third quarter of 2022 compared to the same quarter of 2021 amounted to 15.6%, which is again one of the largest differences between real and nominal GDP growth rates, as a result of high inflation rate, the value of which has been continuously above 10% since May 2022.
| X-axis | 2008 crisis | 2020 crisis |
|---|---|---|
| -1 | Q3 2008 | Q4 2019 |
| 0 | Q4 2008 | Q1 2020 |
| 1 | Q1 2009 | Q2 2020 |
| 2 | Q2 2009 | Q3 2020 |
| 3 | Q3 2009 | Q4 2020 |
| 4 | Q4 2009 | 1Q 2021 |
| 5 | Q1 2010 | Q2 2021 |
| 6 | Q2 2010 | Q3 2021 |
| 7 | Q3 2010 | Q4 2021 |
| 8 | Q4 2010 | Q1 2022 |
| 9 | 1Q 2011 | 2Q 2022 |
| 10 | 2Q 2011 | 3Q 2022 |
The first estimate shows that the quarterly gross value added (GVA) increased in real terms by 5.3% in the third quarter of 2022, as compared to the same quarter of 2021, based on non-seasonally adjusted data. The quarterly growth in GVA was recorded in all groups of activities and it was mostly influenced by Wholesale and retail trade, Transportation and storage, and Accommodation and food service activities.
Household consumption increased in real terms by 5.6% in the third quarter of 2022, mainly due to an increase in turnover from catering services, transport services and retail trade.
Government spending increased by 1.3% in real terms in the third quarter of 2022 compared to the same period of the previous year.
In the third quarter of 2022, the export of goods and services recorded a growth in real terms, of 23.3%, while the import of goods and services recorded a growth of 30.5% in real terms.
