Economic Growth Slows to 4% in Q3 2025 Despite Strong Domestic Demand and Investment
The High Commission for Planning reported that the national accounts for the third quarter of 2025 revealed a slowdown in economic growth, with the growth rate reaching 4%, compared to 5% during the same period in 2024.
According to the commission’s economic situation note for the third quarter of the current year, domestic demand continued to play a key role in driving growth amidst a context characterized by inflation control and an increase in financing needs for the national economy.
Official data highlighted a slowdown in non-agricultural activities’ growth to 3.8%, down from 5.7%, while agricultural activity experienced a rebound, rising by 4.7% after a decline of 5.1% during the same period last year.
The value added by the primary sector, in real terms, rose by 2.6% in Q3 2025, compared to a 4.2% decline a year earlier. This development is attributed to an increase in agricultural value added by 4.4%, following the previous year’s drop of 5.1%, while fishing activities saw a significant decline of 24.4%, after rising by 13.4%.
In contrast, the growth of value added in the secondary sector slowed, falling from 6.9% to 3.8%. This decline is linked to a decrease in growth rates for construction and public works activities from 6.8% to 5.6%, extraction industries from 14% to 5.2%, and manufacturing from 6.6% to 2.6%, while activities in electricity, gas, water, and waste management improved by 5.9%, up from 4.6%.
The tertiary sector also experienced a slowdown, with its growth rate dropping from 5% to 4.2%. This decline mainly affected hotel and restaurant activities, which saw growth drop from 12.3% to 7.4%, financial and insurance activities from 7.9% to 6.8%, education, health, and social work services from 6.8% to 5.7%, as well as transport and storage from 7.5% to 3.5%. Trade and vehicle repair registered a decrease from 4.7% to 3.2%, research and development, and business services from 4.3% to 2.8%, and information and communication from 2.2% to 1.5%.
Conversely, the value added by public administration and social security services improved to 4.8%, up from 4.3%, while real estate activities rose by 0.9% after a prior decline of 1.7%.
As a result, the growth of value added in non-agricultural activities slowed from 5.7% in Q3 2024 to 3.8% in the same quarter of 2025.
The gross domestic product in real terms, after seasonal adjustments, grew by 4% compared to 5% in the same quarter last year, amidst an increase in the volume of taxes on products, net of subsidies, by 4.8%, down from 9.9%.
In current prices, GDP rose by 5.7% in Q3 2025, compared to 8.7% during the same period in 2024, resulting in a slowdown in the general price level to 1.7%, down from 3.7%.
On another note, the commission confirmed that domestic demand grew by 7.6%, up from 5.9%, contributing 8.3 points to economic growth, compared to 6.5 points last year.
Gross fixed capital formation experienced a strong increase of 15%, compared to 11.8%, contributing 4.6 points to economic growth instead of 3.5 points. Meanwhile, final consumption expenditure by public administrations rose by 7.4%, compared to 5.5%, contributing 1.3 points instead of one point.
Final consumption expenditure by households also increased by 3.9%, up from 3%, contributing 2.3 points to economic growth compared to 1.8 points.
Regarding external trade, the volume of imports of goods and services rose by 15.3%, compared to 11.1%, resulting in a negative contribution to economic growth of 7.7 points, up from 5.8 points. On the other hand, export growth slowed from 10.1% to 8.2%, with a contribution to growth of 3.4 points, down from 4.3 points.
Overall, external trade in goods and services contributed negatively to economic growth during Q3 2025, recording a contribution of -4.3 points, compared to 1.5 points during the same period last year.
