This growth comes amidst a backdrop of weakened demand in the eurozone, influenced by increased key interest rates.
The World Bank has revised its 2024 growth forecast for Croatia to 2.7 percent, up from an earlier projection by 0.2 percentage points. This suggests a consistent growth rate, closely mirroring the 2.5 percent growth achieved in 2023. The bank anticipates a slight acceleration in 2025, with a growth rate of 3 percent, though this is a downward revision from previous October estimates.
Poland’s economy, projected to grow by 2.6 percent this year, closely follows Croatia’s forecasted growth rate. Bulgaria is also near, with an expected growth of 2.4 percent, as per the World Bank’s latest projections.
Within the EU region of Europe and Central Asia, Romania’s economy is expected to witness the most robust growth in 2024, with a 3.3 percent increase, according to the World Bank’s estimates.
In contrast, the eurozone’s economy is projected to grow by only 0.7 percent in 2024, approximately half the rate predicted last summer by the bank. The growth rate is expected to pick up in 2025, reaching 1.6 percent, which is still lower than the bank’s previous forecasts.
The American economy is forecasted to grow by 1.6 percent this year, a noticeable slowdown from 2023 due to high interest rates. A similar growth rate is anticipated for the world’s largest economy in 2025.
Globally, the World Bank expects a slight deceleration in economic growth, with a projected rate of 2.4 percent in 2024 compared to 2.6 percent in the previous year. This rate is nearly three-quarters of a percentage point lower than the average in the first decade of the 21st century.
