Romania's economy, up 4.1pct in 2018 to 940.477bil. lei current prices (provisional data)

Romania's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) estimated for the year 2018 amounted to 940477.5 million lei current prices, up 4.1 percent in real terms over 2017, industry contributing the most with a share of almost 24 percent in GDP formation, according to data released on Thursday by the National Institute of Statistics (INS). The Gross Domestic Product - seasonally adjusted data - estimated for Q4 2018 amounted to 241297.2 million lei current prices, increasing - in real terms - by 0.7 percent against Q3 2018 and by 4.0 percent against Q4 2017. From GDP uses standpoint, the increase was, mainly, due to final consumption expenditure of households whose volume increased by 5.2 percent contributing by 3.3 percent to the GDP growth rate. A negative contribution to the GDP growth rate was recorded by gross fixed capital formation, with a contribution of -0.7 percent, as a consequence of the decrease by 3.2 percent of its volume; net export with a contribution of -1.8 percent, being influenced by the volume increase of exports of goods and services, by 4.7 percent, in correlation with a higher increase of the volume of imports of goods and service, by 8.6 percent. Construction activities recorded a negative contribution to GDP growth rate (-0.3 percent) as a result of the volume decrease by 5.6 percent. The seasonally adjusted series of quarterly Gross Domestic Product did not changed, with the revision of the estimates for Q4 2018 as compared to the flash estimates published on February 14, 2019 being insignificant. In unadjusted series, the Gross Domestic Product estimated for Q4 2018 amounted to 280791.6 million lei current prices, increasing - in real terms - by 4.1 percent as against Q4 2017. Almost all industries contributed to the GDP increase in the year 2018 as against 2017. Significant positive contributions had the following industries: information and communication (+0.4 percent), with a share of 5.2 percent in GDP, whose activity volume increased by 7.0 percent; professional, scientific and technical activities; activities of administrative services and support services (+0.4 percent), with a share of 7.3 percent in GDP, whose activity volume increased by 5.7 percent; net taxes on products (+1.0 percent), with a share in GDP of 9.5 percent, which recorded an increase in activity volume by 10.1 percent. In its winter economic forecast, the European Commission said the economic boom that began in Romania in 2017 eased in 2018. Real GDP growth eased from 7 percent in 2017 to 4.3 percent annualised in the first three quarters of 2018. In its world economic outlook report, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Romania's economy grew at a robust 6.9 percent in 2017 on fiscal stimulus and strong external demand. Growth is expected to decline to 4 percent in 2018 and further to 3.4 percent in 2019 (1.1 and 0.1 percentage points lower than in the April 2018 WEO) as the stimulus moderates. AGERPRES (RO - author: George Banciulea, editor: Oana Tilica; EN - author: Corneliu-Aurelian Colceriu, editor: Rodica State)