The gross domestic product increased at a quarterly rate of 0.1% in real terms in the January-March period. This was slower than a quarterly growth of 1.4% in the last three months of 2013.
Industry contributed 2.3% to the GDP growth in the first quarter compared with the year-ago period, while retail and the IT&C sector made positive contributions of 0.6% and 0.3%, respectively.
Real estate contributed a modest 0.1% to the first quarter growth, the data showed.
The construction and financial and insurance sectors each had a negative impact of 0.1% on the economic growth.
Domestic demand added 4.6% to the country’s GDP in the first quarter, while net export made a positive contribution of 0.7%. Exports increased 9.7% on the year in the first three months, while imports rose 8.5%.
Romania forecasts an economic growth of 2.5% in 2014, supported by industry and domestic demand.