In January through September, the economy expanded by 3.5 percent from the same period last year, to 83.504 billion litas, the office said.
The GDP grew by an annual 3.9 percent, to 25.3 billion litas at current prices, in the first quarter of this year, and by an annual 2.1 percent, to 28.471 billion litas, in the second quarter.
Most groups of economic activities recorded positive changes in added value in the first nine months of this year, the office said adding that a positive year-on-year change in GDP resulted from improvements in performance in agriculture, manufacturing, and domestic trade.
The statistics office revised its first- and second-quarter GDP estimates based on more comprehensive data and more detailed assessment of added value.
Growth driven by solid harvest
Fast growth of Lithuania’s gross domestic product (GDP) in the third quarter was mostly driven by strong performance of the agricultural sector, Violeta Klyvienė, senior analyst for the Baltic countries at Danske Bank, said.
“The results are better than our projections. The growth of GDP accelerated to 4.4 percent and we did not expect the growth to be that fast. However, we expected a revival in the third quarter since the performance of the agricultural sector, solid harvest, let expect the economic growth to accelerate,” she told BNS.
Industry contributed to the growth as well, but abundant harvest was the key driving force, Klyvienė said.
“Agriculture’s contribution to the growth in GDP is usual for the third quarter but this time the performance was particularly strong and, in my opinion, it provided the biggest impetus to the growth of GDP. Industry’s indexes remained positive although they were somewhat volatile,” the analyst said.
Economic growth should slow down in the fourth quarter, she said.
“Further on, we will see slowdown in the industrial sector since we will not avoid the effects of turmoil in the euro zone. And the growth of GDP will most likely decelerate in the fourth quarter. According to our projections, full-year GDP will increase by some 2.7 percent, perhaps by up to 3 percent on average.”
