Croatia was among the EU member states with marked increases in economic activity in the fourth quarter of 2022, while the economy in the EU and euro area stagnated, Eurostat's estimate showed on Wednesday.

In the fourth quarter of 2022, seasonally adjusted GDP remained stable in the euro area and decreased by 0.1% in the EU compared with the previous quarter, the European Union’s statistical office said.

In the third quarter of 2022, GDP had grown by 0.4% in both the euro area and the EU.

Compared with the last quarter of 2021, seasonally adjusted GDP increased by 1.8 % in the euro area and by 1.7% in the EU.

In the third quarter of 2022, compared with the same period of 2021, GDP had risen by 2.4% in the euro area and by 2.6% in the EU.

Croatia alongside Denmark

Greece (+1.4%) recorded the highest increase of GDP compared to the previous quarter, followed by Malta (+1.2%) and Cyprus (+1.1%). The highest decreases were observed in Poland (-2.4%), Estonia (-1.6%) and Finland (-0.6%).

The Croatian economy grew by 0.9% compared with the third quarter of 2022, when it had increased by 0.5%. Denmark recorded the same increase (+0.9%), and Romania and Slovenia were in the same group, with increases of 1.0% and 0.8% respectively.

In the last quarter of 2022 compared with the same period of 2021, the largest increases were observed in Ireland (+13.1%), Greece (+5.2), Romania (+4.9%) and Malta (+4.7%), while the only decreases were recorded in Estonia (-4.4%), Lithuania (-0.4%) and Sweden (-0.1%).

In Croatia, GDP grew by 4.2% in the fourth quarter of 2022 compared with the same period of 2021. In the third quarter of 2022, it had grown by 5.4%. Cyprus was close to Croatia with an increase of 4.5%.

Employment

The number of employed persons increased by 0.3% both in the euro area and in the EU in the fourth quarter of 2022, compared with the previous quarter. In the third quarter of 2022, employment had increased by 0.3% in the euro area and by 0.2% in the EU.

Compared with the fourth quarter of 2021, employment increased by 1.5% in the euro area and by 1.3% in the EU.