In the second quarter of 2018, Croatia's economy grew by 2.9 percent compared to Q2 2017, posting faster growth than in Q1 2018, mainly thanks to higher exports and spending, state statistics bureau reported on Wednesday.

This year’s Q2 was the 16th quarter in a row that GDP increased. In Q1 2018, GDP went up by 2.5 percent year-on-year.

The biggest positive contribution to GDP in Q2 2018 came from higher exports of goods and services, which increased by 5.6 percent. The export of commodities grew by 7.1 percent, and that of services by 4.3 percent.

In the same period, Croatia’s overall imports grew by 4.7 percent. Imports of commodities went up by 2.9 percent, and that of services by 13.9 percent.

The contribution of domestic demand was also positive. Household spending in Q2 2018 went up 3.6 percent year-on-year, slowing down from Q1 2018, when the year-on-year increase was 3.9 percent.

The increase in government spending slowed down to 2.5 percent year-on-year, after Q1 2018 saw an increase of 2.8 percent.

According to seasonally adjusted data released by the statistics bureau, in Q2 2018 Croatia’s GDP increased by 1.1 percent quarter-on-quarter, and 2.8 percent from Q2 2017.

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