ZAGREB, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) -- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects Croatia's economy to grow 2.8 percent in 2018, and to slow down to 2.6 percent next year, according to the latest issue of the IMF's World Economic Outlook.

IMF expects Croatia's unemployment to drop to 12 percent this year and further to 11.2 percent in 2019. In 2017, the unemployment rate was 12.4 percent.

According to the report, consumer prices are expected to increase by an annual average of 1.6 percent in 2018 and 1.5 percent in 2019. The surplus in the account balance could drop in 2018 from the last year's 3.9 percent to 2.7 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP).

Croatian economic analysts also expect the economy to slightly slow down this year compared with last year's 2.9 percent growth, Croatian news agency Hina reported on Tuesday.

According to the Croatian National Bank, Croatian GDP will grow 2.8 percent this year.