ZAGREB, 14 Oct (Hina) – The Croatian economy will grow by 3.1% this year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) confirmed on Tuesday, but the deficit in the balance of payments will be significantly higher than indicated by the spring forecasts.

In 2026, Croatia’s economic growth is expected to slow to 2.7%, the IMF said, confirming its April projection.

The international lender once again significantly raised its estimate of inflation in Croatia for this year, from 3.7% to 4.4%. Next year, according to the latest calculations, consumer price growth is expected to slow to 2.8%, compared with the April forecast of 2.6%.

On the current account of the balance of payments, Croatia is now projected by the IMF to record a deficit of 1.6% of GDP this year. The April report had shown a deficit of 0.7% of GDP.

For 2026, the IMF now expects Croatia’s balance of payments deficit to reach 2% of GDP, compared with the spring projection of 0.6%.

The unemployment rate is expected to stand at 5% this year, 0.3 percentage points lower than the April estimate. In 2026, it should remain at that level, again 0.3 percentage points lower than previously projected.

Modest recovery in the euro area

The euro area economy is expected to grow by 1.2% this year, 0.2 percentage points higher than forecast in July.

Next year, activity in the single currency area is forecast to rise by 1.1%, 0.1 percentage points lower than projected two and a half months ago.

The IMF publishes its summer update only for the global economy and for major economies and regions.

Among the four largest euro area economies, Spain is expected to record by far the strongest growth this year, at 2.9%, according to the IMF. In 2026, growth is projected to slow to 2.0%.

For the largest euro area economy, Germany, the IMF experts forecast very modest growth of 0.2%, just 0.1 percentage points higher than estimated in July. In 2026, growth should accelerate to 0.9%.

The French economy is expected to grow by 0.7% this yearВ and the Italian by 0.5%. In 2026, activity should pick up slightly, to 0.9% in France and 0.8% in Italy, the IMF’s new projections show.