6. 2. 2026
5 min. reading
Comment by Jaromír Šindel, Chief Economist of the CBA: December data brought a positive end to the year with continued better-than-expected industrial production, including its structure. The same is true for construction output, which returned to a better performance, but the weaker number of building permits remains a drag. Foreign trade posted an improved surplus of over 25 billion kronor in December and nearly 220 billion kronor for the full year 2025. This is equivalent to 2.6% of GDP, down from 2.8% a year ago. While retail trade did not impress at the end of the year, this was not the case for industrial wages, which returned to double-digit annualized growth at the end of the year. Overall, the December data should not prompt more dovish rhetoric from the CNB, as it does not yet signal a disinflationary contribution from the real economy towards core inflation. However, in its new, stronger outlook, the CNB is also assuming an improvement in labour productivity, which, together with tighter monetary conditions, will bring inflation back towards its target.