Economic growth in the first quarter of 2024
Preliminary estimates of the quarterly national accounts show that Real gross domestic product (GDP), seasonally adjusted, increased at an annual rate of 0.2 percent in the first three months of the current year (January to March 2024), i.e., compared to the first quarter of 2023, reflecting a slight improvement compared to the previous quarters. In terms of quarter-on-quarter change, i.e., compared to the last quarter of the previous year, the Real GDP increased by 0.6 percent, while it had increased by almost the same percentage in the fourth quarter 2023 (0.5%).
Economic growth benefited from a recovery in agriculture (+1.6%) and maintained momentum in service activities (+1.9%). On the other hand, the industrial and construction sectors recorded an annual decline of -5.0% and -6.8% respectively.
With the easing of inflationary tensions, domestic demand increased at an annual rate of 0,4%, structurally appearing as the main economic driver, contributing positively for 0,45 percentage points to real GDP growth during the first quarter (0,2). While the external trade balance reduced growth by 0.26 points, due to the increase in the volume of exports of goods and services of (2.2%), slightly below that of imports (2.4% ).
