The national economy regained strong momentum in the first quarter of 2025, posting a growth rate of 4.8%, a clear improvement over the 3% recorded during the same period last year. This rebound was fueled equally by the resilience of non-agricultural sectors, which grew by 4.6%, and the long-awaited recovery in agriculture, which rose by 4.5%.
Industry played a central role in driving this uptick. The secondary sector saw its seasonally adjusted value added climb by 4.5%, compared to just 3.2% at the start of 2024. Much of this improvement came from a surge in construction and public works, which leapt 6.3% following a more modest 2.5% increase previously. Utility production also picked up pace, with electricity and water output growing 5%. Manufacturing industries posted solid gains of 3.4%. However, extractive industries lost steam, slowing sharply from 19.1% growth to just 6.7%.
The services sector also contributed significantly to the economic rebound. Value added in this area increased by 4.7%, compared to 3.8% a year earlier. Hospitality and food services saw standout growth, surging by 9.7%, while public services such as education, healthcare, and social support rose by 6.2%. Government services, including administrative and social security functions, followed suit with a 5.3% gain. Retail and auto repair saw improvements of 4.3%, and even the real estate sector reversed its previous downturn, nudging up 0.8% after a 1.4% drop last year. On the flip side, several service industries slowed down—most notably, communications, which nearly stalled at 0.5%, down from 3.3%. Transport, storage, business services, and IT also recorded weaker performances.
Primary industries staged a comeback, rebounding by 4.3% after shrinking by the same amount last year. The agricultural sector, which had previously contracted by 5%, managed a 4.5% gain. However, the fishing industry edged down by 0.3%, marking a sharp contrast with its 10.6% jump in early 2024.
Despite a slight dip in net taxes on products (up 6% versus 6.7% last year), overall GDP—adjusted for seasonal variations—grew by 4.8% in the first quarter.
In nominal terms, GDP expanded by 6.9%, roughly matching last year’s pace. This stability reflects a significant cooling in inflation, which fell to 2.1%, down from 3.8% the year before.
Domestic demand emerged as the main growth engine. It soared by 8%, double the rate from a year earlier, contributing a full 8.5 percentage points to growth, compared to just 4.3 previously. Household spending was a key factor, rising by 4.4% against 2.8% last year. Investment took off, jumping by 17.5%—a substantial leap from the 4.9% gain recorded a year ago. However, public sector consumption grew at a slightly slower pace, at 5.2% versus 5.5%, making a smaller overall contribution.
Foreign trade, by contrast, dragged on the economy. Imports of goods and services rose 9.8%, up from 7.6% last year, subtracting 4.7 percentage points from growth. Meanwhile, exports slowed sharply to 2.2%—a significant drop from the 5.8% seen previously—contributing just 0.9 points to growth compared to 2.5 last year. Altogether, the net impact of foreign trade on GDP was negative, shaving 3.8 points off overall growth, up from a drag of 1.3 points a year earlier.
Despite modest gains in nominal GDP and a steeper decline in net income from abroad (down 7.5%), gross national disposable income still grew by 6%, in line with last year’s pace. With final national consumption rising by 6.7%, the national savings rate slipped to 26.8% of GDP, compared to 27.6% previously. Gross investment reached 28.8% of GDP, widening the economy’s financing gap to 2%.
