BELGRADE, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- The growth of Serbia's gross domestic product (GDP) will be lower than the region's average in 2017 and is expected to slow down to 2 percent as "the sharp winter has struck the agriculture and construction sector", the World Bank (WB) presented in Belgrade on Thursday.
"In Serbia, the region's largest economy, a cold winter significantly depressed agricultural output and construction activity," World Bank stated in its semi-annual report on the Western Balkan region.
In 2017, Albania and Montenegro are expected to grow faster than in 2016, Bosnia and Herzegovina will continue at a same rate, while the growth will weaken in Serbia and Macedonia.
The report shows that the overall growth of the region has slowed down to some 2.6 percent in 2017, although the report published by the World Bank this spring predicted 3.2 percent.
Last year the growth in the region was 2.9 percent, while Serbia's growth was 2.7 percent and its GDP was 37.745 billion U.S. dollars.
However, the report showed that the employment in Serbia increased by 4.3 percent despite poor agricultural season and the deceleration of the overall growth.
"Almost a decade after the global financial crisis, employment has recovered to pre-2008 levels in all Western Balkan countries except Bosnia and Herzegovina", said Linda Van Gelder, country director for the Western Balkans Region of the World Bank, adding that around 230,000 jobs were created in the region from June 2016 to June 2017.
Thanks to growth, jobs, and relatively low inflation, poverty rate declined for about 1 percent and "124,000 people in the region have been lifted out of poverty since 2016", the report said.
WB predicted that the growth of the region will rise to 3.3 percent in 2018 and 3.6 percent in 2019 because "private consumption is likely to continue to drive growth, with support from investment and heightened exports.
"In particular, upgraded growth in the euro Area would drive up demand for Western Balkan exports", the report added.
