Croatia's gross domestic product (GDP) rose by 3.9 in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the previous year. This marks the 13th consecutive quarter of growth, mainly thanks to increased consumption and investment, according to the first estimate released by the Croatian Bureau of Statistics (DZS) on Tuesday.

However, annual growth was slower than in the last quarter of 2023, when it was 4.4%. Quarterly growth was 1%.

Household consumption, the largest GDP component, rose 6% year-on-year, compared to annual growth of 5.3% in the last quarter of 2023.

Gross fixed capital formation rose by 10.8%, compared to annual growth of 6% in the fourth quarter of 2023.

Government consumption rose by 1%, below the growth of 4.6% in Q4 2023.

Exports of goods and services, on the other hand, fell by 2% year-on-year, following a decline of 4.4% in Q4 2023. Exports of goods rose by 2.9%, while exports of services fell by 8.2%.

Imports of goods and services increased by 2.2%, which was the first growth after three quarters of decline Imports of goods rose by 0.5% and imports of services by 13.8%.

Croatia’s GDP growth in Q1 2024 was significantly faster than the EU average. According to the latest first estimate from Eurostat, GDP in both the EU and the eurozone rose by 0.3% on the quarter and 0.4% on the year in the first quarter of this year.