Romania’s economic growth still highest in Europe, despite slowdown in first quarter

Romania’s 3.8 percent economic growth in the first quarter of this year (Q1 2014) remains the highest among the 28 member states of the European Union (EU), despite the fact that it slowed down from 5.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2013 (Q4 2013), Eurostat data shows. Poland is second, with a GDP growth of 3.5 percent in the first quarter, higher than in Q4 2013 (2.5 percent), and Hungary comes third with a growth rate of 3.2 percent in Q1 2014 (2.9 percent in Q4 2013). The average growth for the 28 states of the EU was 1.4 percent in Q1 2014, higher than in Q4 2013 when it was 1 percent. The Eurozone’s 18 member states lag behind the EU average, with a 0.9 percent increase in GDP in the first quarter. Luckily for Romania, the German economy, which is the largest in Europe, picked up pace and grew by 2.3 percent in the first quarter, compared to 1.4 percent growth in Q4 2013. Germany is the largest commercial partner for Romania in the EU. In 2013, 18.6 percent of the total Romanian exports went to Germany, and imports from this country were also 18.6 percent of total imports. Italy, which is the second commercial partner for Romania inside the EU, posted a GDP decline of 0.5 percent in Q1 2014, lower than the 0.9 percent decrease in Q4 2013. Andrei Chirileasa, andrei@romania-insider.com