Services added 1.5 percentage points to growth, the construction sector 0.8 percentage points and industry 0.7 percentage point. ING analyst Péter Virovácz said, commenting on the data, that GDP growth was expected to speed up in the second half of 2017.

If consumption reflects the changes in the labour market and industrial growth gains momentum, July-December data may surpass 4 percent, he said.

Dávid Németh of Takarékbank forecast a 3.8 percent growth for H2. Growth is likely to slow to 3.5 percent next year, he said. The official government projection for GDP growth this year is 4.1 percent.

KSH said the unadjusted year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter GDP growth figures were unchanged from the first reading released on August 16, but the adjusted year-on-year figure was revised down from a preliminary 3.6 percent.

Unadjusted first-half GDP growth was also revised down, to 3.6 percent. Adjusted H1 growth was 3.7 percent.

Republished with permission of Hungary Matters, MTI’s daily newsletter.