BRATISLAVA, September 6, (WEBNOVINY) — As expected, year-on-year growth of the Slovak economy slackened over the second quarter of 2012. The Statistics Office informed on Thursday that in constant prices gross domestic product grew by 2.8 percent y/y in real terms over the second quarter while in the first quarter the local economy surged 3 percent. In quarterly comparison, the Slovak economy grew 0.7 percent. At current prices, the gross domestic product surged 3.8 percent to EUR 17.85 billion over Q2.
Similarly to previous quarters economic growth was in particular prompted by higher external demand. Exports of products and services went up by 8.9 percent, down 4.2 percentage points from Q2 2011. Imports of products and services jumped 3.2 percent. “The fall in local demand by 1.6 percent was mainly caused by a drop in formation of gross capital by 4.6 percent and in final general government consumption by 2.1 percent. Final consumption of households was lower by 0.3 percent, too, explained the Statistics Office. Only consumption of non-profit organizations providing services to households exceeded last year’s levels.
Of the gross domestic product generated in the second quarter of this year added value made up EUR 16.3 billion. The greatest volume – 33.1 percent of the generated added value was formed by industry, with 26.8-percent share of industrial manufacturing. The share of trade, transport, storage and accommodation and catering services reached 19.6 percent. The share of added value created in the public administration, education, health care and social aid accounted for 14.5 percent. Compared with the second quarter of 2011 the share of industrial manufacturing on added value grew most by 1.2 percentage points. The construction sector posted the deepest drop of 0.7 percentage points.
The Slovak economy grew 3.3 percent last year, a slowdown from 4.2-percent growth in 2010. In the last quarter of 2011 Slovakia’s GDP soared 3.4 percent. The Slovak economy grew 3 percent in the first quarter of this year.
SITA