The Czech economy grew by 2.6 percent last year. This is according to a revised estimate released today by the Czech Statistical Office. It thereby confirmed its previous estimate published in early March. The office has now slightly revised upward its estimate for the fourth quarter of last year, when gross domestic product (GDP) rose by 2.7 percent year-on-year.

The previous estimate had indicated growth of 2.6 percent Last year, the Czech economy saw its highest growth rate since 2022. Compared to 2024, the pace of GDP growth more than doubled last year; in fact, the economy grew by 1.1 percent the year before. GDP has been growing for five consecutive years, having last declined in 2020.

According to the latest estimates, the economy grew by more than 2 percent year-over-year in every quarter this year. Growth was lowest in the first quarter at 2.4 percent and highest in the third quarter at 2.8 percent.

Quarter-on-quarter GDP growth stood at 0.7 percent in the final quarter of last year. This also represents an improvement over the previous estimate, which had projected growth of 0.6 percent.

Above-average household savings rate

Total household monetary and non-monetary income rose by 1.1 percent in 2025, and real per capita consumption increased by 3 percent year-over-year. By contrast, the savings rate fell by 1.2 percentage points from 2024 to 19.1 percent.

“Households have maintained a significantly above-average savings rate since the onset of the pandemic. This means that those members of the population who have the financial means are setting aside an increasingly larger portion of their income for savings than was typical before the pandemic,” said Petr Dufek, an analyst at Creditas Bank.

The profit margin of non-financial enterprises reached 43 percent in 2025, which was 1.3 percentage points lower than a year earlier. However, the profit margin in the Czech Republic remained above the European Union average, which stands at approximately 40 percent. The corporate investment rate fell by one percentage point compared to 2024, to 26.6 percent.

Komerční banka (part of Société Générale Group) analyst Jana Steckerová estimates economic growth at 2.7 percent for both this year and next. According to her, the economic outlook will now be influenced by the duration of the conflict in the Middle East. However, its impact on GDP is significantly lower than its impact on inflation. A permanent 10 percent increase in oil prices would result in a reduction in annual GDP growth of 0.1 to 0.2 percentage points in the coming years, with a cumulative loss of about 0.6 percentage points, she added.

Prepared by foreign office CzechTrade Romania.
Source: E15.cz