The gross domestic product grew 3.5 percent in 2013, with industry and agriculture having the largest positive impact, according to INS’s press release on Wednesday.

It is the highest increase since 2008, when Romania’s economy grew by 7.3 pct.

Industry, which accounts for roughly a third of GDP, contributed 2.3 percentage points to the economic growth, while the agriculture added 1.1 percentage points. The farming sector, while posting a whopping 23.4 percent increase in output, had just a 5.6 percent share in the 2013 GDP.

On the other hand, the retail, constructions and financial sectors had slight negative contributions to the GDP formation last year.

In terms of expenditure, the net exports and household consumption had the largest contributions in the GDP growth, offsetting the decline of investments. Net exports had a 4.1 percent positive impact in the GDP composition, following an almost 13 percent increase of Romania’s exports last year and smaller (2.3 pct) growth in imports. Household consumption, which is worth 60 percent of the GDP, grew 1.4 pct in 2013.

With the farming output unlikely to match last year’s harvest, Romania’s economic growth is expected to slow to around 2.2 percent this year. (source: business-review.eu)