Overview: Before the dissolution of Yugoslavia, the republic of Croatia, after Slovenia, was the most prosperous and industrialized area, with a per capita output roughly comparable to that of Portugal and perhaps one-third above the Yugoslav average. At present, Croatian Serb Nationalists control approximately one-third of the Croatian territory, and one of the overriding determinants of Croatia's long-term political and economic prospects will be the resolution of this territorial dispute. Croatia faces monumental economic problems stemming from: the legacy of longtime Communist mismanagement of the economy; large foreign debt; damage during the fighting to bridges, factories, power lines, buildings, and houses; the large refugee population, both Croatian and Bosnian; and the disruption of economic ties to Serbia and the other former Yugoslav republics, as well as within its own territory. At the minimum, extensive Western aid and investment, especially in the tourist and oil industries, would seem necessary to salvage a desperate economic situation. However, peace and political stability must come first; only then will recent government moves toward a "market-friendly" economy reverse the sharp drop in output. As of May 1994, fighting continues among Croats, Serbs, and Muslims, and national boundaries and final political arrangements are still in doubt.

National product: GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $21.8 billion (1992 est.)

National product real growth rate: -19% (1992 est.)

National product per capita: $4,500 (1992 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 26% monthly average (1993 est.)

Unemployment rate: 21% (December 1993)

Budget:
revenues: $NA
expenditures: $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA

Exports: $3.9 billion (f.o.b., 1993)
commodities: machinery and transport equipment 30%, other manufacturers 37%, chemicals 11%, food and live animals 9%, raw materials 6.5%, fuels and lubricants 5% (1990)
partners: EC countries, Slovenia

Imports: $4.7 billion (c.i.f., 1993)
commodities: machinery and transport equipment 21%, fuels and lubricants 19%, food and live animals 16%, chemicals 14%, manufactured goods 13%, miscellaneous manufactured articles 9%, raw materials 6.5%, beverages and tobacco 1% (1990)
partners: EC countries, Slovenia, FSU countries

External debt: $2.6 billion (December 1993)

Industrial production: growth rate -5.9% (1993 est.)

Electricity:
capacity: 3,570,000 kW
production: 11.5 billion kWh
consumption per capita: 2,400 kWh (1992)

Industries: chemicals and plastics, machine tools, fabricated metal, electronics, pig iron and rolled steel products, aluminum reduction, paper, wood products (including furniture), building materials (including cement), textiles, shipbuilding, petroleum and petroleum refining, food processing and beverages

Agriculture: Croatia normally produces a food surplus; most agricultural land in private hands and concentrated in Croat-majority districts in Slavonia and Istria; much of Slavonia's land has been put out of production by fighting; wheat, corn, sugar beets, sunflowers, alfalfa, and clover are main crops in Slavonia; central Croatian highlands are less fertile but support cereal production, orchards, vineyards, livestock breeding, and dairy farming; coastal areas and offshore islands grow olives, citrus fruits, and vegetables

Economic aid: $NA

Currency: 1 Croatian dinar (CD) = 100 paras; a new currency, the kuna, replaced the dinar on 30 May 1994
Exchange rates: Croatian dinar per US $1 - 6,544 (January 1994), 3,637 (15 July 1993), 60.00 (April 1992)

Fiscal year: calendar year

NOTE: The information regarding Croatia on this page is re-published from the 1995 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Croatia Economy 1995 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Croatia Economy 1995 should be addressed to the CIA.