The national statistical office (DZS) is expected to release preliminary estimates of Croatia's 2014 Q3 Gross Domestic Product at the end of November, while the eight analysts polled by Hina have already estimated a negative economic growth in the range from -0.4% to -1% on the year.
If the analysts' average estimated contraction of 0.7% in Q3 proves to be true, this will be a milder decline than in Q2 which saw -0.8%.
Croatia's economy has been shrinking since the beginning of 2009, with two short spells of a positive growth in Q3 2010 and in Q2 2011.
The continued contraction in the economy was ascribed to the weakening personal consumption, the biggest component n the country's GDP.
The good tourist season this summer managed only to cushion the effects of a declining retail sector but wan not enough to trigger off a positive growth.
The analysts also forecast a continued drop in investments, as evidenced in the construction sector with a a decline of 8% in the first eight months in 2014 compared to the corresponding period in 2014.