Poland notched up the third-fastest economic growth in the EU in 2018, outperformed only by Ireland and Malta, the European Commission has said.

The EU’s executive said in a report that Polish GDP growth last year was the highest since 2007.

However, the commission forecast that the Polish economy would slow to 3.5 percent this year as higher inflation bites into consumers’ spending power.

Last autumn, the commission had forecast that Polish GDP would grow 3.7 percent in 2019.

Polish GDP grew 5.1 percent in 2018, the country’s Central Statistical Office (GUS) said in a flash estimate last month.

In 2017, Poland’s gross domestic product expanded by 4.8 percent, according to the office.

Polish President Andrzej Duda in late January signed into law the country’s budget for 2019, which expects the economy to grow 3.8 percent, with inflation targeted at 2.3 percent.

The International Monetary Fund has forecast in a new report that Poland’s economic growth will gradually slow from 3.6 percent in 2019 to 2.8 percent in 2021-2023.