The third quarter of 2016 had a 10.3% year-over-year decline in Moldova’s GDP, which fell 8.4% quarter over quarter (seasonally adjusted numbers), bne IntelliNews reported.
The government, international financial institutions (IFIs), and independent experts had predicted a 3% decrease for the year, but the actual numbers are substantially lower.
The GDP of the nation shrank by 4.1% y/y in the first three quarters of 2022, and the base effects for the final quarter of the year are not good.
The 21.4% decline in agricultural production in Q3 alone contributed 3.5 pp to the total 10.3% y/y decrease. Real estate and the sector of services to households (including commerce, -1.9pp) produced significant negative contributions to the formation side (-1.2pp).
Value-added decreased by 12.4% y/y in the manufacturing sector, which added 1.2 percentage points to the quarter’s overall poor performance.
Because of substantial subsidies given to consumers and businesses, net taxes collected decreased by 8.7% year over year, which had a negative 1.2 percentage point impact on the quarter’s GDP.
Final consumption decreased by 4.8% year over year, while gross fixed capital formation decreased by 4.4%.
Utilization of foreign resources grew, reaching 24% of total domestic demand (consumption plus investment) in the third quarter. Volume-wise, exports of goods and services increased by 11% year over year while imports skyrocketed by 21% year over year.
Moldova’s economy suffered a blow with the energy crisis, too. Numerous Russian air raids that destroyed power grids in Ukraine, have severely affected Moldova as the small nation is energy-dependent on its neighbor.
Throughout the course of the war, Moldova suffered a number of blackouts due to Russian hits on Ukrainian energy infrastructure. This implied that Moldova has to resort to other counties for energy, such as neighboring Romania, however at much higher prices.
