Romania’s gross domestic product grew by 2.9% in real terms last year compared with 2013, to 669.5 billion lei (EUR150.8 billion), according to provisional data released by the statistics bureau.
Industry, which accounts for almost a quarter of the total GDP, contributed 0.9 percentage points of the annual growth, while the communication sector added 0.6 points. The financial industry had a negative contribution of minus 0.1 points, while the constructions sector, which has been on a downward path since the start of the economic downturn six years ago, had zero contribution to the growth.
The agriculture sector had a contribution of just 0.1 percentage points to the growth in 2014, after a good performance coming on the heels of a very good 2013. The real estate, the commerce and tourism, and the professional services each had a plus 0.3 percentage points impact in the GDP growth.
The economic growth was almost entirely supported by domestic consumption last year, as investments took a dive.
Household consumption went up 2.9% in 2014, while the gross fixed capital formation (which describes the total investment) fell 3.6% on the year, contributing with minus 0.8 percentage points to the growth.
In the fourth quarter alone, the GDP was up 0.5% compared with the previous quarter in seasonally-adjusted data, the statistics reading said. Compared with the same period of 2013, the fourth-quarter GDP was up 2.5% in seasonally-adjusted data and 2.6% higher in non-adjusted data. The figures are unchanged from a flash estimate released last month.