Croatia's economy grew in the first three months of 2018 by 2.5 percent compared to Q1 2017, accelerating from the previous quarter and exceeding analysts' expectations, with the largest single contribution to GDP growth coming from increase in household spending, the state statistics bureau reported on Wednesday.

This is the 15th quarter in a row that the country’s GDP has posted year-on-year growth, and the 2.5 percent increase in Q1 2018 is up from the 2 percent growth posted in Q4 2017 – itself the smallest growth on record since mid-2015.

The data exceeded expectations, as eight macro-economists polled by the state news agency Hina had predicted on average that the growth would be 2.3 percent year-on-year.

The main positive trend which influenced GDP growth over the quarter was the increase in household spending. The growth in domestic demand was also positive, while the contribution of net foreign demand was negative.

According to seasonally adjusted data, GDP in Q1 2018 grew by 0.2 percent compared to the previous quarter, and by 1.5 percent compared to Q1 2017.

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