Illustrative stock photo (source: TASR)
The gross domestic product (GDP) went down in constant prices by 2.7 percent in the final quarter of 2020, compared with the fourth quarter of 2019.
After seasonal adjustment, GDP decreased by 2.7 percent year-on-year, but went up by 0.2 percent compared with the previous quarter, according to the flash estimate published by the Statistics Office on February 16.
The volume of GDP at current prices in the fourth quarter of 2020 amounted to €24.0828 billion, down by 0.4 percent y-o-y.
“Despite the second Covid-19 pandemic wave, which hit the population harder than the first one, the Slovak economy did quite well and the performance of several industries was surprising,” the Statistics Office wrote in its statement, naming car industry and construction.
The result was a year-on-year development of GDP comparable to the 3rd quarter of 2020, which was much better than the 2nd quarter, when the first pandemic wave broke out. The external balance of goods and services was also positive in the 4th quarter of 2020, and the external demand related to car industry products played an important role.
The Statistics Office will publish revised GDP data with more detailed statistics on March 5.
