ZAGREB, 8 March(Hina)-Croatia recorded the strongest GDP increase in the fourth quarter of 2023,together with Malta,while the economy at the level of the euro area and the European Union stagnated, show data released by Eurostat on Friday. In the period from October to December 2023, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the euro area increased by 0.1% on the year and GDP in the EU went up 0.2%. From July to September 2023, GDP in both the euro area and the EU had increased by 0.1% on the year. Croatia and Malta recorded the highest year-on-year increase of GDP in the fourth quarter (+4.3%), followed by Denmark (+3.1%). In the third quarter, Croatia's economy had grown by 3.0%. The highest decrease in GDP in the fourth quarter of 2023 was observed in Ireland (-9.1%). Stagnation In the fourth quarter of 2023, the economy of the euro area and of the EU also stagnated compared with the third quarter of 2023. In the third quarter of 2023, GDP in the euro area had decreased by 0.1%, compared with the previous quarter, and in the EU it had remained stable. The highest quarter-on-quarter increases in the fourth quarter of 2023 were recorded by Denmark (+2.0%), Croatia (+1.3%), and Slovenia (+1.1%). In Croatia, GDP had increased by 0.5% in the third quarter. In the fourth quarter of 2023, the biggest decrease in GDP compared to the previous quarter was recorded by Ireland (-3.4%). Employment unchanged from previous quarter The number of employees in the euro area and the EU in the fourth quarter of 2023 increased by 0.3% and 0.2% respectively compared to the third quarter. Eurostat estimates that 217.1 million citizens were employed in the EU in the fourth quarter, including 169.2 million in the eurozone. Quarter-on-quarter, the number of employees increased the most in Romania (+1.5%), followed by Malta (+1.4%). In Croatia, the number of employees in the fourth quarter increased by 0.5% compared to the third quarter, when it had increased by 1.0%. The number of employees fell the most in Latvia (-1.0%), followed by Finland (-0.6%). Employment up y-o-y Compared with the last quarter of 2022, the number of employees increased by 1.2% the euro area and by 1.0% in the EU in the fourth quarter of 2023. In the third quarter, the number of employees had increased by 1.4% and 1.2% on the year, respectively. Malta recorded the biggest year-on-year increase in the last quarter of 2023 (+5.7%), followed by Ireland (+5.1%). The number of employees in Croatia went up by 1.9% on the year. In the fourth quarter of 2023, a year-on-year decrease in the number of employees was recorded only in Latvia (-0.8%), Finland (-0.5%) and Poland (-0.3%). (Hina) ll