WIIW The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies - Wiener Institut für Internationale Wirtschaftsvergleiche

Economic growth in 2017 amounted to 4%, with household consumption growing quicker than GDP, reflecting the dynamic expansion of real wages. Investments increased by about 20% as a direct consequence of the accelerated allocation of EU cohesion policy-related resources to recipients. The other side of the coin was the strong deterioration in the foreign trade balance. Economic growth remains dynamic this year, though a deceleration is expected from 2019 on, closely related to the depletion of EU resources due to a deliberate excessive utilisation of the respective resources in 2017-2019.