Slovakia: Growth remains buoyant in Q3
The Slovak economy remained strong in the third quarter. According to preliminary data released by the Central Statistics Office (KSH) on 14 November, the economy expanded 4.6% annually in Q3, which was slightly up from Q2’s 4.5% growth and marked the best reading in almost three years. Meanwhile, total employment increased 1.9% over Q3 2017 and 0.4% over the preious quarter
Although a breakdown by components is not yet available, stronger growth in retail sales, tight labor market conditions, solid wage growth and improving consumer confidence suggest private consumption was robust in the quarter. Fixed investment is also expected to have contributed significantly to Q3’s positive performance, supported by healthy credit growth and rising EU fund inflows, as well as by the construction of a new car plant of British carmaker Jaguar Land Rover.
On a quarter-on-quarter basis, GDP growth in the third quarter inched down to 1.1%, from Q2’s 1.2% expansion. More detailed data will be released on 7 December.