EU Candidate & Potential Candidate Countries’ Economic Quarterly (CCEQ) – 4th Quarter 2016

This is an overview of all seven EU Candidates' and Potential Candidates' economic situations in the third quarter of 2016 - their evolution and forecast.

The economic recovery in the Western Balkans strengthened further during the third quarter of 2016, largely driven by a further acceleration of annual GDP growth in Serbia, the largest economy in the region. Current account deficits narrowed across the Western Balkans, but overall, external positions remain vulnerable in most of the countries. Despite further progress in fiscal consolidation, still high public debt levels in most countries of the region remain a cause for concern. In Turkey, GDP shrank in the third quarter with government consumption the only contributing factor and in the context of sharply lower revenues from tourism and sharply deteriorating confidence levels.