Written by Dóra Barát – ELTINGA, EECFA Research
This summer ELTINGA at EECFA Research has again looked at how the European Commission sees the EECFA countries. Here is what has changed in the prospects between Autumn 2024 and Spring 2025.
Compared to Autumn 2024, economic outlook has deteriorated in all countries covered, although the projected growth remains positive across the board. The most significant downward revisions have occurred in Romania, Bulgaria, and Hungary, while countries like Croatia, Slovenia, and Russia have seen more moderate adjustments. Growth expectations for both the EU and the Euro Area have also slightly declined, mirroring the broader cooling of optimism across the region.
Average GDP growth in 2025-2026 is projected to be positive in all examined countries, though to differing degrees. Serbia is expected to record the highest expansion at 3.5%, followed by Türkiye (3.15%) and Croatia (3.05%), while Russia (1.45%) is forecast to have the slowest growth in the region. Growth in Euroconstruct member Hungary is projected at 1.65%, falling between the regional average and the broader EU outlook. The remaining EECFA countries (Romania, Bulgaria, and Slovenia) are expected to grow between 1.8% and 2.2%. Despite downward revisions, all countries in the region are forecast to outperform the averages of the EU (1.3%) and the Euro Area (1.15%), continuing the trend of a stronger growth in Eastern and Southeast Europe.
The projected growth rate of gross fixed capital formation (GFCF) for 2025-2026 has weakened in nearly all countries since the Autumn 2024 forecast. Romania has witnessed a major downward revision with the expected growth dropping by just over 4 percentage points, while Hungary has also registered a significant cut of around 2.4 percentage points. Türkiye, Slovenia, and Bulgaria have experienced more moderate declines. In Croatia, the outlook remained unchanged at 3.75%, and Russia was the only country with a slight upward revision. Despite the general slowdown, Serbia is projected to post the strongest GFCF growth at 6.7%, followed by Croatia (3.75%) and Romania (2.95%), while most other countries are set to grow between 1.25% and 2.75%. The EU (1.95%) and Euro Area (1.75%) are to remain at the lower end of the spectrum.
Expectations for the growth rate of gross fixed capital formation into construction have also been revised downward in all countries where data is available. Romania has seen the steepest decline with its projected growth falling from 8.45% to 3.9%, though it still holds the highest rate among the observed countries. Hungary and Slovenia have experienced similar reductions, both dropping by more than 2.5 percentage points. Smaller adjustments have been recorded in Bulgaria and Croatia where the outlook for GFCF into construction growth remains relatively strong at 2.85% and 3.8%, respectively. In the broader European context, the EU and the Euro Area are projected to see only a respective modest growth of 1.9% and 1.6%, slightly below most national forecasts in the region.
The Commission’s view on construction investment is somewhat different from ours. Partly it is because we examine the sector from the bottom. For each segment we come up with an individual story and this is how the total construction market is formed. Our latest forecast is in the 2025 Summer EECFA Construction Forecast Reports. Sample report and order
We, in EECFA, are also less optimistic about the near future than half a year ago. The direction of the revision is mostly downward. In cases of Bulgaria, Croatia and Hungary we project moderate growth which is pretty close to the Commission’s expectations. In four countries, however, we do not think average real growth until 2026 could be positive.