Romania’s gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 0.8% in the second quarter of 2024 compared with the same quarter of last year, based on both unadjusted data series and seasonally adjusted data series, the National Statistics Office (INS) announced on Friday, September 6.

For the first half of 2024, Romania’s GDP recorded an annual growth of 0.7% for the unadjusted data series and 1.5% for the seasonally adjusted data series, according to the same source.

The data shows a steep economic slowdown this year after Romania posted GDP growth rates of 4.1% in 2022 and 2.1% in 2023.

From the GDP uses standpoint, the growth in Q2 2024 was mainly due to final consumption, which contributed 5.0 percentage points to the overall growth. Gross capital formation also had a positive contribution of 1.4 percentage points.

However, net exports slashed 4.4 percentage points from Romania’s economic growth in the second quarter due to lower exports and higher consumption-driven imports.

From a GDP formation standpoint, the biggest contributors to the economic growth in the second quarter were Agriculture and Shows, culture and recreation activities; repair of households goods and other, each of which added 0.3 percentage points to the overall growth, followed by Construction (mainly led by infrastructure) with 0.2 percentage points. Industry, which stands for 17.7% of the GDP volume, had a negative contribution of -0.1 percentage points to the GDP growth, which correlates with the lower exports. Information and communication (IT&C), once a GDP growth driver, also contributed -0.1 percentage points to GDP growth while Real estate activities had a negative contribution of -0.2 percentage points in Q2 2024.

The detailed data for the second quarter confirm the significant impact of turbulences in key international markets on the Romanian economy, especially in the automotive and IT&C sectors.

Third-quarter GDP data, to be released mid-November, could also be negatively influenced by a drop in the agriculture sector as Romania’s autumn crops, especially corn and sunflower, are expected to be lower than last year due to severe drought in parts of the country.

editor@romania-insider.com

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