Macedonia's gross domestic product (GDP) registered a year-on-year growth of 3 percent in the second quarter of 2018, Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev said Sunday, calling it a result of the country's political stabilization.

Zaev told a joint press conference with the government's economic team that the GDP growth in the second quarter is as well a result of invitation to NATO membership and the launch of the European Union accession negotiations.

According to Zaev, the inflow of direct investments in the first quarter in Macedonia was 372 million euro (430 million U.S. dollars), more than double from those of the previous three years.

Zeav said that unemployment rate stood at 21 percent currently in Macedonia, the lowest in the country's history.

The Macedonian government expects the country's GDP to expand at 3.2 percent in 2018.