BELGRADE (Serbia), June 2 (SeeNews) - Serbia’s real GDP growth slowed to 1.2% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2017, from 2.5% in the previous quarter, the country's statistical office has said.

On a quarterly comparison basis, Serbia's economic expansion slowed to 0.1% in the first quarter of 2017, following an increase of 0.2% in the fourth quarter of 2016 according to seasonally adjusted data, according to data released by the statistical office late on Thursday.

The first quarter of 2017 saw a significant real growth in gross value added in financial and insurance activities, of 4.5% year-on-year, and in wholesale and retail trade, of 2.8% year-on-year.

A drop in gross value added was recorded in the construction sector, by a real 5.1% on an annual comparison basis.

Among GDP components, househiolds' expenditures on final consumption increased by an annual 1.9% in the first quarter, whereas general government final consumption expenditure grew by 0.5%.

Gross fixed capital formation rose 1.3% year-on-year in the first quarter, exports of goods and services expanded by 8.7% while import of goods and services increased by 10.9%.