Gross domestic product (GDP)

The GDP for Q3 2010 was registered at HRK 90.52 billion, as compared to HRK 83.30 billion in Q2 2010.

(Source: dzs.hr)

Real GDP growth rate

The real GDP growth rate in Q3 2010 was 0.2%, as compared to -5.7% in Q3 2009.

(Source: dzs.hr)

GDP per capita

In 2009, the country’s GDP per capita was decreased to 4.09%, as compared to previous year. The compounded rate for GDP per capita was decreased by 0.065% from 2003 to 2005.

(Source:dzs.hr)

Gross national income (GNI) per capita, PPP

The GNI per capita, PPP, was USD 16,389 for the year 2009, as compared to USD 15,168 for the year 2008.

(Source: UNDP)

Income tax rate

Income tax on individual incomes in Croatia is taxed progressively from about 15% to 45%.

(Source: worldwide-tax)

Additional individual income tax, known as crisis tax, is also applicable. Under this income of HRK 3,001 to HRK 6,000 is taxed at 2%, and income above HRK 6,001 is taxed at 4%.

Corporate tax rate

Standard corporate tax in Croatia is 25%.

(Source: worldwide-tax, doingbusiness.org)

Inflation rate

Inflation rate in Croatia reported a decline of 0.9% in August 2010. The decrease is primarily due to a decrease in food prices and industrial non-food prices, with the exception of energy.

(Source: hnb.hr)

Foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow

The foreign direct investment inflow (FDI) in Croatia for Q3 2010 is EUR 25,505.90 million, as compared to EUR 27,664.50 million in Q2 2010.

(Source:hnb.hr)

Portfolio investment

(Source: hnb.hr)

Banking sector assets

The total asset in the banking sector amounted to HRK 79,558.48 million, which is a 12.83% increase from the previous year.

(Source:hnb.hr)

Consumer price index (CPI)

The consumer price index (CPI) for January 2011 (taking the consumer price index for 2005 = 100 as a base) reached 117.7, as compared to 115.5 in January 2010. 

(Source: dzs.hr)

Producer Price Index (PPI)

At end of 2010, the Producer Price Index (PPI) in industrial products registered at 122.1, which is a decrease from the previous month

(Base year 2005 = 100)

(Source: dzs.hr)

Interest rate on time deposits

(Source: hnb.hr)

Money supply (currency in circulation)

In monetary aggregates for 2010, M1 was HRK 47,181.70 million, which includes: currency outside the banks, deposits by other banking institutions and other domestic sectors in the Croatian National Bank (CNB). M4 is the broader money, which was HRK 223,094.60 for the year 2009.  It is comprised of M1, foreign currency deposits, time and saving deposits, bonds, and money market instruments.

(Source:hnb.hr) 

Public Debt

From 2007 to 2009, the country’s public sector debt has increased. At the end of November 2010, the public sector debt was registered at EUR 13,656.6 million.

(Source:hnb.hr)

Total Expenditure

The total expenditure of the country in 2009 was HRK 117,923.99 million, which is a decrease of 33.23% from the previous year.

(Source:mfin.hr)

Exchange rate

The exchange rate for Q2 2010 was registered at 5.69 (HRK per USD). 

(Source: mfin.hr)

Government finances

 Fiscal balance

The fiscal deficit for 2010 is estimated to be HRK 12,277.24 million. The country’s fiscal deficit decreased by 37.56% from the previous year. 

(Source: mfin.hr)

Total revenue

In 2009, the country’s total revenue declined by 5% from the previous year. According to the finance ministry, the total revenue is projected to be HRK 108,015.21 million for 2010.

(Source:mfin.hr)

Tax revenue

The country’s tax revenue for 2009 was HRK 63,678.9 million, which is a 8.47% decrease from the previous year. The taxation revenue includes taxes on income, profits, capital gains, property, goods and services, international trade and transactions, and other taxes. From January to August 2010, the tax revenue amounted to HRK 41,258.5 million.

(Source: mfin.hr)

Total grants

In 2009, the total grants received amounted to HRK 616.3 million, which is a 31.51% increase from the previous year. In August 2010, the total grants received from other countries was HRK 310.1 million.

In 2010, the total grants offered to other countries, international organizations, and other general government units was HRK 3,787.1 million.

(Source: mfin.hr)

Current account balance

The current account for the third quarter of 2010 was a surplus of EUR 1,848.8 million, as compared to a surplus of EUR 1,790.5 million in the corresponding period of 2009.

(Source:hnb.hr)

Balance of Payments

(Source:hnb.hr)

Labour force

In the third quarter of 2010, the total labour force was 1,741,000, as compared to 1,761,000 in the corresponding period of 2009.

(Source:dzs.hr)

Employed population

In the third quarter of 2010, the total employed population was 1,540,000 people. Of this total employed population, 225,000 were employed in agriculture, 423,000 employed in industries and 892,000 were employed in services.

(Source: dzs.hr)

Unemployment Rate

The unemployment rate for Q3 2010 was registered at 11.5%, as compared to 12.4% in previous quarter, of this 31% were 15-24 years old and 11% were 25-49 years old.

(Source: dzs.hr)

Minimum wage

The average monthly net wages were increasing from 2000 to 2008. However, in 2009 the average monthly net wages decreased by 0.89%.

(Source: hnb.hr)

Level of unionisation

The Union of Autonomous Trade Unions represents the majority of workers in the country. It includes 22 trade unions and 21 branch offices. It has a membership of 400,000.

(Source:fedee)

Government stability

The Republic of Croatia’s constitution was proclaimed in December 1990. Since then Croatia has had a sovereign and democratic system of government.

The Croatian government is organised into legislative, executive, and judicial branches.

The legislative and executive power in the country rests with the Parliament, also known as the Sabor.  The Croatian Parliament is unicameral and is comprised of 153 members. These members are directly elected for a term of four years.

Presidential elections are held every five years. The last elections were in 2010, and Ivo Josipovic was elected.  Jadranka Kosor is the current prime minister, and was elected in 2009.

In the country, formation of political parties is free. The major political parties in the country include:

• Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ)

• Social Democratic Party of Croatia

• Croatian Peasant Party (HSS)

• Croatian Social Liberal Party

• Croatian People's Party

• Croatian Democratic Alliance of Slavonia and Baranja (HDSSB)

• Istrian Democratic Assembly

• Croatian Party of Rights (HSP)

• Croatian Party of Pensioners (HSU)

• Representatives of National Minorities

(Source: mvpei.hr, BBC)

Regulatory environment

The country's regulatory environment system remains inefficient. Howver, the global trade and competitive tax reforms have increased the modernisation of the economy and allowed fo economic expansion.

Croatia's economic freedom score is 61.1, making the economy the 82^nd freest in the 2011 Index of Economic Freedom. The overall score is 1.9 points higher than the previous year. However, the overall score remains below the regional average.

(Source: heritage.org)

Corruption perception

The Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) is a survey to measure the perceived level of corruption across countries worldwide. Croatia is ranked 62^nd on the index, which indicates that the level of corruption in public departments is relatively low.

The CPI ranking of the country slipped from 66^th in 2009 to 62^nd in 2010, with a score of 4.1 and a confidence range of 3.4 to 5.2, which indicates that the perceived levels of corruption have decreased in the country.

(Source: transparency.org)

Freedom of information

Independent and accurate reporting is not witnessed in the Croatian media. A public survey in 2008 revealed that the general public considered journalists to be influenced by political parties.

The major newspapers in the country include:

• Vecernji list

• Jutarnji list

• Slobodna Dalmacija

• Novi list

• Glas Istre

• Poslovni dnevnik

• Business.hr

• Globus

• Nacional

Croatia is ranked 62^nd in the World Press Freedom Index 2010 with a score of 17.50, indicating that the media in Croatia is restricted.

(Source: BBC, rsf.org)

Judicial system

The country judicial system is independent and exercised through various courts. The Supreme Court of the Republic of Croatia is the highest authority in judicial matters.

The Constitutional Court includes thirteen judges, who are selected by the Croatian Parliament for eight years.

In Croatia, there are 90 courts of general jurisdiction including a Supreme Court, an Administrative Court, 21 County courts, and 67 Municipal courts.

There are 14 commercial courts which include one High Commercial Court and 13 Commercial courts.

The total magistrate’s courts in the country are 115, which include one High Magistrates’ Court and 114 other magistrates’ courts. In 2009, the country had 422 magistrates.

(Source: mvpei.hr, dzs.hr)

The total population of Croatia for 2009 was 4,425,700.

(Source:dzs.hr)

The gender ratio in the country is slightly imbalanced, i.e. there are about 93 males for every 100 females in the country.

(Source: UN)

(Source:Worldbank)

In 2009, the birth rate was registered at 10.1 per thousand inhabitants.

(Source:dzs.hr)

According to the country’s census, the average age for men is 37.5 years, and 41.0 years for women. The average life expectancy at birth in Croatia is 71.1 years for men and is 78.1 years for females.

The total mortality, for 2009, was 52,414. The mortality rate of infants (per thousands live births), in the same year, was registered at 5.3.

(Source:dzs.hr)

(Source:dzs.hr)

According to estimates at the end of 2010, males and females below 14 was 347,000 and 330,000 respectively. For 15 to 64 year olds there were 1,372,000 males and 1,362,000 females. For people 65 and above, the country had 416,000 males and 598,000 females.

The international migrant stock till mid 2010 was recorded at 0.7 million people. This was approximately 15.9% of the entire population.

The latest figures reveal that the urban population in the country grew at an annual rate of 0.2% from 2005 to 2010. For the same period, the rural population declined at 0.7%.

(Source: UN)

About 89.63% of the population are Croats. The other ethnic groups include: Albanians, Austrians, Bosnians, Bulgarians, Montenegrins, Czechs, Hungarians, Macedonians, Germans, Poles, Romanians, Russians Slovaks, Slovenes, Serbs, Italians, Turks, Ukrainians and Jews.

(Source:dzs.hr)

The country ranks 51^st out of 169 countries on the Human Development Index of 2010 as conducted by the United Nations. The HDI provides a composite measure of three dimensions of human development: living a long and healthy life (measured by life expectancy), being educated (measured by adult literacy and gross enrolment in education) and having a decent standard of living (measured by purchasing power parity, PPP, income). 

(Source:UNDP)

Education/literacy rate

The country’s literacy rate is 98.6%. It is compulsory for children to complete 8 years of education.

(Source:guardian.co.uk,mzos.hr)

Education resources

The Croatian education system includes the following:

• Preschool education

• Elementary education

• Secondary education

• Higher education

The education system in the country is supervised by the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports. Education is considered as a priority by the government. The educational policy gives special attention to the country’s minority groups and focuses on the decentralisation of funding for schools. The World Bank is assisting the Ministry with an Education Sector Support Program. The program will be funded by a World Bank loan to the government.

(Source: mzos.hr)

Healthcare resources

The healthcare system includes health services at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels and health workers. In 2009, the country had 22 Institutes of public health, 23 general hospitals, 14 clinics, 40 special hospitals, 49 health centers, 176 pharmacies, 348 polyclinics, 154 care organisations, 13 Institutions of occupational medicine, 9 other health institutions and 207 health companies.

The country has about 79 hospitals and 23,967 hospital beds. There is a total of 11,847 doctors, 3,259 dentists and 2,673 pharmacists. The compulsory healthcare insurance expenditure was HRK 17,869.85 million in 2009.

(Source: dzs.hr)

Public transport in the country includes roads and railways.

Roadways

As of 2009, the total length of roads in the country was 29,343 kilometres. Of the total road network, 2,056 kilometres are E-roads.

(Source: dzs.hr)

Railways

The total length of railway lines in the country in 2009 was 985 kilometres.

(Source: dzs.hr)

Ports

There are 33 ports in Croatia. Some are the largest ports are     

• Port of Vukovar

• Port of Split

• Port of Rijeka

• Port of Kraljevica

 Source: (world port source)

 Airports

 A few of the airports in the country are listed below:

 (Source: Air charter world)

Telecommunications networks

The telecommunications sector is the most developed in the country. In 2009, there was an increase in mobile subscribers by 2.64% as compared to the previous year. 

The internet users in 2009 increased by 11.18% as compared to the previous year. The broadband subscribers also increased, 30.55% as compared to previous year. In 2010, 2.2 million people, i.e. 50% of the total population, used internet services.

(Source: dzs.hr, internetworldstats)