MINSK, 19 March (BelTA) – Construction, trade and transportation have become the main drivers of Belarus’ economic growth in January-February 2025, Belarusian First Deputy Economy Minister Andrei Kartun told the media on 18 March, BelTA has learned.
“Positive results were achieved in January-February, economic growth continued. GDP grew by 3.1%. We are moving along the forecast trajectory. We expect an increase of about 2.7% by the end of Q1, taking into account all the factors. The key leaders among the industries have remained the same. We can only say that the balance of power has changed. The leaders are trade, in particular, retail trade. It grew by 10% thanks to the growth of household incomes. Construction is also among the leaders (growth of 13.4%). Acceleration of the construction growth is largely due to the fact that we have turned the so-called pyramid of commissioning of new housing. We have always traditionally commissioned the bulk of housing at the end of the year, and now, taking into account certain decisions, we have already managed to commission an additional 100,000 m2 across the country,” Andrei Kartun said.
Transportation is also among the main drivers (growth of 2.7%). The growth trend in the IT-sector continues, and industry has showed the growth of 2%.
Capital investments soared 17.2%, with the target at 2.3%. Even higher dynamics have been demonstrated by expenditure on machinery and equipment (up 25.1%).
Another important factor is the level of household incomes. In January, they increased in real terms by 13.8%. As of 1 February 2025, labor pensions have been increased by 10%.
“Some sectors, such as agriculture, have not delivered the same pace as last year. Industry shows a slightly lower growth. The so-called leap year effect is very clear in agriculture in general. Last year we added another 0.1-0.2% of GDP due to only one extra day, according to various estimates. Agriculture showed the rate of a few percent. We had exactly the same trend in 2017 and 2021 [which followed the leap year, the same as 2025]. We expect agriculture to recover its pace. We see from the operational information that in March the rates will be higher, both in livestock and crop production,” the first deputy minister said.
As for industry, there were certain volatile shocks at the beginning of the year in traditional markets, so the growth rates have slowed down a bit, but they cannot be called low. According to the operational information for March, the growth rates in industry are gaining momentum.
“In January-February, all industries were in the black,” Andrei Kartun added.
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