Analysis

Hungary’s third quarter GDP growth highest in EU

The Hungarian economy grew by 4.8 per cent during the third quarter of 2019 compared with the corresponding period of the previous year, highest level among all EU member states, Eurostat has reported.

In emerging Europe, Poland’s third quarter GDP growth was the second highest with four per cent, with the country’s economy expanding by 1.3 per cent in the July-September period compared with the second quarter, higher than any other EU country quarter-to-quarter. In this regard, only Poland and Hungary achieved a quarterly growth rate higher than one per cent, with the latter achieving 1.1 per cent.

Bulgaria came in third in the region with a growth level of 3.7 per cent, closely followed by Lithuania’s 3.6 per cent in the third quarter. Despite previously strong projections, the Romanian economy’s growth decelerated to three per cent, which is likely to continue due to the weak performance of the eurozone and the fading effects of a loose monetary policy.

Eurostat’s analysts found that the Czech economy had expanded by 2.5 per cent in the reporting period, while Latvia and Slovakia both had grown by 1.8 per cent, respectively.

Among the EU member states of emerging Europe, Croatia, Estonia and Slovenia are yet to release their data on GDP growth during the third quarter.