Economy of Croatia

Economy of Croatia
	The city of Zagreb is the capital and financial centre of Croatia.
Currency	Euro (EUR, €)
Fiscal year	1 January – 31 December
Trade organisations	EU, EEA, WTO
Country group	Advanced economy; High-income economy;
Statistics
Population	3,861,967 (2023 est.)
GDP	$98.95 billion (nominal, 2025f); $198.27 billion (PPP, 2025f);
GDP rank	74th (nominal, 2024); 79th (PPP, 2024);
GDP growth	3.3% (2023); 3.8% (2024); 3.1% (2025f);
GDP per capita	$25,674 (nominal, 2025f); $51,442 (PPP, 2025f);
GDP per capita rank	47th (nominal, 2025); 39th (PPP, 2025);
GDP by sector	Agriculture: 3.1%; Industry: 19.9%; Services: 60.9%; (2022);
Inflation (CPI)	4.0% (2024f)
Population below poverty line	19.3% at risk of poverty (2023) Pannonian Croatia: 29.4% (2023); Adriatic Croatia: 17.5% (2023); City of Zagreb: 10.5% (2023); Northern Croatia: 17.7% (2023);
Gini coefficient	29.7 low (2023)
Human Development Index	0.889 very high (41st) (2025); 0.828 very high IHDI (30th) (2025);
Corruption Perceptions Index	50 out of 100 points (2023) (57th)
Labour force	1,707,050 (2022); 70.7% employment rate (2023);
Unemployment	4.6% (April 2025); 16.7% (youth) (June 2024);
Average gross salary	€2,014 monthly (March 2025)
Average net salary	€1,448 monthly (March 2025)
Main industries	chemicals and plastics, machine tools, fabricated metal, electronics, pig iron and rolled steel products, aluminium, paper, wood products, construction materials, textiles, shipbuilding, petroleum and petroleum refining, food and beverages, tourism
External
Exports	$26.13 billion (2024)
Export goods	transport equipment, machinery, textiles, chemicals, foodstuffs, fuels
Main export partners	Germany 11.9%; Italy 11.4%; Bosnia and Herzegovina 11.2%; Slovenia 10.9%; Hungary 6.2%; Serbia 5.4%; Austria 5.1%; United States 3.3%; Slovakia 2.4%; France 2.4%; (2024);
Imports	$46.56 billion (2024)
Import goods	machinery, transport and electrical equipment; chemicals, fuels and lubricants; foodstuffs
Main import partners	Germany 14.4%; Italy 13.2%; Slovenia 11.8%; Hungary 6.5%; Austria 5.3%; Netherlands 4.1%; Poland 4.1%; France 4.0%; China 3.4%; Bosnia and Herzegovina 2.8%; (2024);
FDI stock	$43.71 billion (on-shore) (2017); $8.473 billion (off-shore) (2017);
Current account	€-1.059 billion (2024)
Gross external debt	€56.19 billion (2024)
Public finances
Government debt	57.6% of GDP (2024); €49.3 billion (2024);
Foreign reserves	€2.92 billion (August 2024)
Budget balance	€ -2.026 billion deficit (2024); -2.4% of GDP (2024);
Revenues	45.6% of GDP (2024)
Expenses	48.0% of GDP (2024)
Economic aid	€10.74 billion from European Structural and Investment Funds (2014–2020);
Credit rating	Standard & Poor's:; A− (Long Term); A-2 (Short Term); Outlook: Positive (2024); Fitch:; A−; Outlook: Stable (2024); Moody's:; A3; Outlook: Stable (2024); Scope:; A−; Outlook: Stable (2024);
	All values, unless otherwise stated, are in US dollars.

The economy of Croatia is a developed mixed economy. It is one of the largest economies in Southeast Europe by nominal gross domestic product (GDP). It is an open economy with accommodative foreign policy, highly dependent on international trade in Europe. Within Croatia, economic development varies among its counties, with strongest growth in Central Croatia and its financial centre, Zagreb. It has a very high level of human development, low levels of income inequality, and a high quality of life. Croatia's labor market has been perennially inefficient, with inconsistent business standards as well as ineffective corporate and income tax policy.

Croatia's economic history is closely linked to its historic nation-building efforts. Its pre-industrial economy leveraged the country's geography and natural resources to guide agricultural growth. The 1800s saw a shipbuilding boom, railroading, and industrial production. During the 1900s, Croatia entered into a planned economy (with socialism) in 1941 and a command economy (with communism) during World War II. It experienced rapid urbanization in the 1950s and decentralized in 1965, diversifying its economy before the collapse of Yugoslavia during the 1990s. The Croatian War of Independence (1991–95) curbed 21–25% of wartime GDP, leaving behind a developing transition economy.

The modern Croatian economy is considered high-income and dominated by its tertiary service sector, which accounts for 70% of GDP. The high levels of tourism in Croatia contributes to nearly 20% of GDP, with a total of 20.6 million tourists visiting in 2023. Croatia is an emerging energy power in Southeast Europe, with strategic investments in liquefied natural gas (LNG), geothermal networks, and electric transport. It supports regional economic activity via transportation networks across the Adriatic Sea and throughout Pan-European corridors. As a member of the European Union, Eurozone, and Schengen Area, it uses the euro (€) as official currency. Croatia has free-trade agreements with many world nations and is a part of the World Trade Organization (2000) and the EEA (2013).