03.06.202610:21:43UTC+00North Macedonia Q1 GDP Growth at 1-Year Low

North Macedonia’s economy grew by 3.1% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026, down from 3.8% in the previous quarter and marking the slowest expansion since Q1 2025.

External demand weakened as export growth slowed to 6.2% from 9.7% in Q4, while import growth picked up to 5.2% from 3.3%. In contrast, domestic demand strengthened: final consumption rose by 3.2% (up from 2.8%), driven by faster household spending growth of 2.6% (vs 2.0%), even as government consumption growth eased to 5.5% (vs 6.4%). Gross fixed capital formation also returned to positive territory, expanding by 1.5% after a 3.0% decline in the prior quarter.

On the production side, manufacturing output fell by 0.2% after rising 3.6% in Q4, and mining and quarrying also contracted by 0.8% following 2.5% growth previously. The strongest increases were recorded in arts, entertainment and recreation (4.2% vs 3.2% in Q4), construction (7.2% vs 14.6%), and professional, scientific and technical activities (6.1% vs 8.1%).

On a seasonally adjusted quarter-on-quarter basis, GDP growth moderated to 0.3% in Q1 2026, from 0.9% in the preceding three-month period.