(ANSA) - BELGRADE, NOVEMBER 30 - Romania's gross domestic product (GDP) could surpass the GDP of Portugal this year, an analysis of the specialized Romanian portal Business Review revealed. Quoting also government forecasts, the portal said that in 2018 Romania's GDP is estimated to exceed 200 billion euros in total "and the country has chances to overtake Portugal in terms of its economy size." Currently, Business Review recalled, Romania is the seventh largest nation in the European Union in terms of population, but ranks only 16th in terms of GDP and 27th in terms of GDP per capita index, with around 9,600 euros per inhabitant in 2017.

Eurostat data show that the Romanian GDP exceeded 170 billion euros in 2016 (1.1% of the total in the EU) and 187 billion in 2017 (1.2%), the year in which Romania recorded a 6.7% economic growth in real terms. The GDP in Portugal grew from 186 billion in 2016 to 194 billion in 2017. Last year, Romania already registered a larger GDP than Greece (180 billion), but still lower than the Czech GDP (191 billion). "The Czech Republic is growing faster and will remain a larger economy than Romania within the next years, according to independent estimates, " Business Review noted. (ANSA).