Croatia GDP Growth at Softest Pace Since 2020
2026-05-28 09:58
By
Erika Ordonez
1 min. read
Croatia's economy expanded by 2.2% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026, slowing from an upwardly revised 3.9% in the previous period and marking the weakest growth since a contraction in the fourth quarter of 2020.
Government spending eased further (0.7% vs 2.8% in Q4 2025), while household consumption held steady at 2.6%.
Net external demand also weighed on activity, as exports (-1.6% vs 1.5%) fell more than imports (-0.3% vs 0.3%).
Gross fixed capital formation slowed to 2.5% from 7.0%.
On the production side, growth softened in manufacturing (1.1% vs 6.4%), construction (2.8% vs 7.2%), wholesale and retail trade, transportation, storage, accommodation, and food service activities (1.8% vs 2.1%), and financial and insurance services (1.2% vs 2.9%).
Meanwhile, stronger growth was seen in agriculture, forestry, and fishing (4.8% vs 1.7%) and public administration (3.0% vs 1.0%).
On a seasonally adjusted quarterly basis, GDP was unchanged after a 1.2% rise in the previous period.