Croatia suffers biggest GDP drop on record due to COVID-19

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ZAGREB, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Croatia's gross domestic product (GDP) decreased by 15.1 percent in the second quarter of 2020 compared to the same period last year, the Croatian Bureau of Statistics announced on Friday.

The drop, caused mainly by restrictive measures to combat the COVID-19 outbreak, is the largest one since the time series started in 1995. The last drastic decline happened in the first quarter of 2009 when Croatia's GDP dropped by 8.8 percent during the financial crisis.

In the second quarter, the biggest decline was recorded in tourism, which shrank by 67.4 percent. Household consumption dropped by 14 percent, exports of goods and services decreased by 40 percent, and imports of goods and services shrank by 28.1 percent.

In the first quarter, Croatia managed to avoid an economic downturn, with its GDP shrinking by 0.4 percent.

The southeastern European country confirmed its first COVID-19 infection on Feb. 25. Comprehensive restrictive measures were implemented in March and gradually lifted by May, when situations seemed to be under control. However, the outbreak resurged during the tourist season this summer and culminated in new highs of daily counts this week.

Croatia has recorded 357 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours as of Friday afternoon, bringing the total infections to 9,549, and 2,560 cases remain active currently, according to the Croatian Institute of Public Health.

According to the European Commission, Croatia is among the three most affected countries in the European Union by the coronavirus crisis. The Commission predicted in July that Croatia's GDP would drop by 10.8 percent in 2020, and then grow by 7.5 percent in 2021. Enditem

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