On the expenditure side, household consumption increased 6.3 percent in the second quarter, after a 9.3 percent jump in Q1; and fixed investment rose 3.9 percent, following a 7.9 percent climb in the previous period. Meanwhile, government spending went up at a faster 7.2 percent (vs 4.9 percent in Q1), and net external demand contributed positively to the GDP growth, as exports surged 4.5 percent (vs 0.7 percent in Q1) buyoed by a persistent currency weakness and imports advanced at a much softer 0.3 percent (vs 15.4 percent in Q1).
On the production side, services output grew 8 percent (vs 10.4 percent in Q1), mainly boosted by public administration, education, human health and social work activities (13.1 percent vs 4.5 percent); financial and insurance activities (12.1 percent vs 3 percent); and information and communication (7 percent vs 5.9 percent) On the other hand, a slowdown was seen in real estate activities (0.2 percent vs 3.4 percent), and a contraction was recorded in professional, administrative and support service activities (-1.3 percent vs 12.1 percent). Industrial production grew by 4.3 percent (vs 8.1 percent in Q1), driven by manufacturing (4.7 percent vs 8.7 percent), and construction output advanced by 0.8 percent (vs 6.6 percent). Meanwhile, agiculture shrank by 1.5 percent after a 6.1 percent increase in the previous period.
On a seasonally adjusted quarterly basis, the economy expanded by 0.9 percent in the second quarter, following a downwardly revised 1.5 percent growth in the previous period.