Skopje, 5 March 2026 (MIA) - The country's real gross domestic product has been growing by 3.5 percent on average for six quarters in a row. In the last two quarters of 2025, the real gross domestic product rose by 3.8 percent, Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski told journalists Thursday.

The Prime Minister cited Eurostat data which he said showed that the country’s real GDP growth is among the top three in Europe.

“If we go back a few years, we will conclude that back then we were at the bottom of the region. Now we are, let’s say, ahead of our neighbors. If in the fourth quarter Bulgaria recorded growth of 3.2 percent, Croatia 3.6 percent, Serbia 2.2 percent, Greece around 2 percent, we are the leaders in the region with our 3.8 percent. Now, the bots from the opposition will emerge once again and ridicule what I am saying, but let them, we will continue working and supporting successful stories that contribute to our gross domestic product,” Mickoski said.

Mickoski said he expects GDP growth to be between 3.5 and 4 percent in 2026.

“We expect continued growth amid a situation when European growth is somewhere around 0.5-0.6 percent. This means the economy is consolidated, and the policies that are being led by this Government – the fiscal consolidation, as well as the consolidation of the budget deficit – are bearing fruit. On the one hand we have a policy that is cautious, doesn’t spend too much, and what it does spend it spends in a targeted way and that is bearing fruit. This growth is precisely the result of such a policy,” the Prime Minister said.

According to Mickoski, the country’s nominal gross domestic product is just over USD 21 billion.

“Based on purchasing power in 2026, the IMF projects that per capita income will range between USD 31.000 and 32.000 . We are catching up with Montenegro and Serbia. We are far ahead of, for example, Albania, Kosovo, Moldova, and other countries such as Georgia, Belarus, and so on, even though just two years ago we were behind them. So now our goal is to surpass these two countries, which are part of the six Western Balkan states, and to take one more step forward, gradually reaching the level of European Union member states such as Bulgaria and Romania,” the Prime Minister said. 

Photo: Government