Eight macroeconomists polled by Hina predict the economy in Q2 contracted 2.3% on the year. All expect a downturn ranging from two to 2.9%.
The national economy has been contracting since early 2009.
In Q1 this year, GDP fell 1.3 per cent and all macroeconomic indicators point to a further decline, especially in industrial output, the construction industry and retail.
Spending had a mild but positive effect on GDP in Q1, but steeply dropped in Q2, when retail sank more than 5% on the year owing to a higher VAT, higher electricity and gas prices, and negative trends on the labour market.
Industrial output in Q2 dropped more than 6% and investments have not recovered either.
The macroeconomists polled by Hina do not expect investments to recover because of the negative trends in industrial output and the construction industry, predicting similar trends for the rest of the year, as the private sector remains restrained and public sector investments are slower than expected.
Exports grew in Q1 but due to downturns in European economies, Croatia's main foreign trade partners, demand for imports there has weakened.
Croatia's exports of commodities in the first half of the year stood at EUR 4.5 billion, down 4.2% on the year, while imports declined 0.5% to EUR 8.05 billion.
Three months ago, eight macroeconomists polled by Hina predicted GDP would contract 0.9% this year, while now they predict a decline of 1.4%.
The central bank now forecasts a 1.6% GDP decline, as against about 1% in May, and the Institute of Economics has also revised its GDP contraction predictions from one to 1.3%.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has recently said it expects Croatia's GDP to decline 1.2% this year, as against the 0.6% predicted in May. The European Commission also expects a 1.2% decline, while the International Monetary Fund expects a decline of 0.5%.
The government has recently revised its prediction of GDP growth this year from 0.8 to zero per cent.
Most domestic macroeconomists expects some improvements in the second half of the year, mainly thanks to the good tourism results and announcements of public sector investments. However, they expect spending and investments to be weak and a demanding external environment.