Croatia Economy - 2005

Economy - overview:
Before the dissolution of Yugoslavia, the Republic of Croatia, after Slovenia, was the most prosperous and industrialized area, with a per capita output perhaps one-third above the Yugoslav average. The economy emerged from a mild recession in 2000 with tourism, banking, and public investments leading the way. Unemployment remains high, at about 14 percent, with structural factors slowing its decline. While macroeconomic stabilization has largely been achieved, structural reforms lag because of deep resistance on the part of the public and lack of strong support from politicians. Growth, while impressively about 4% for the last several years, has been achieved through high fiscal and current account deficits. The government is gradually reducing a heavy back log of civil cases, many involving land tenure. The EU accession process should accelerate fiscal and structural reform.

GDP:
purchasing power parity - $50.33 billion (2004 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
3.7% (2004 est.)

GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $11,200 (2004 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 8.2%
industry: 30.1%
services: 61.7% (2004 est.)

Labor force:
1.71 million (2004 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture 2.7%, industry 32.8%, services 64.5% (2004)

Unemployment rate:
13.8% (2004 est.)

Population below poverty line:
11% (2003)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 3.4%
highest 10%: 24.5% (2003 est.)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:
29 (1998)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
2.5% (2004 est.)

Investment (gross fixed):
28.6% of GDP (2004 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $14.14 billion
expenditures: $15.65 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2004 est.)

Public debt:
41.7% of GDP (2004 est.)

Agriculture - products:
wheat, corn, sugar beets, sunflower seed, barley, alfalfa, clover, olives, citrus, grapes, soybeans, potatoes; livestock, dairy products

Industries:
chemicals and plastics, machine tools, fabricated metal, electronics, pig iron and rolled steel products, aluminum, paper, wood products, construction materials, textiles, shipbuilding, petroleum and petroleum refining, food and beverages; tourism

Industrial production growth rate:
2.7% (2004 est.)

Electricity - production:
12.51 billion kWh (2002)

Electricity - consumption:
15.2 billion kWh (2002)

Electricity - exports:
406 million kWh (2002)

Electricity - imports:
3.966 billion kWh (2002)

Oil - production:
21,000 bbl/day (2004 est.)

Oil - consumption:
89,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - exports:
NA

Oil - imports:
NA

Oil - proved reserves:
93.6 million bbl (1 January 2002)

Natural gas - production:
1.76 billion cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - consumption:
2.84 billion cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - exports:
0 cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - imports:
1.08 billion cu m (2001 est.)

Natural gas - proved reserves:
34.36 billion cu m (1 January 2002)

Current account balance:
$-1.925 billion (2004 est.)

Exports:
$7.845 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)

Exports - commodities:
transport equipment, textiles, chemicals, foodstuffs, fuels

Exports - partners:
Italy 23.1%, Bosnia and Herzegovina 14.7%, Germany 11.5%, Austria 9.6%, Slovenia 7.7% (2004)

Imports:
$16.7 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)

Imports - commodities:
machinery, transport and electrical equipment, chemicals, fuels and lubricants, foodstuffs

Imports - partners:
Italy 17.3%, Germany 15.7%, Slovenia 7.1%, Austria 7.1%, Russia 7%, France 4.3% (2004)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$8.563 billion (2004 est.)

Debt - external:
$26.4 billion (2004 est.)

Economic aid - recipient:
ODA $166.5 million (2002)

Currency (code):
kuna (HRK)

Exchange rates:
kuna per US dollar - 6.0358 (2004), 6.7035 (2003), 7.8687 (2002), 8.34 (2001), 8.2766 (2000)