Croatia
The Republic of Croatia is located in Southeastern Europe bordering Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Hungary, Serbia, and the Adriatic Sea. Croatia is about the size of West Virginia and covers an area of56,542sq. kilometers. The total population is 4.475 million and is shrinking at a rate of 0.11% with 58% living in urban areas. The capital of Zagreb has a population of 779,000 with other main cities including Split (1.36 mil) and Rijeka (144,000), and Osijek (114,000). The people are governed by a parliamentary democracy and are predominately Roman Catholic. The primary language is Croatian and the local currency is the Croatian Kuna.
Croatia’s economy has achieved steady growth in the past decade and has a good long term outlook especially with the possibility of EU accession. Currently Croatia is fairly dependent on tourism revenues and unemployment remains a problem. Croatia’s main trade partners are Italy, Germany, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Russia, Austria, and China. Its primary imports are machinery, transport and electrical equipment, chemicals, fuels and lubricants, and foodstuffs. Exports include transport equipment, machinery, textiles, chemicals, foodstuffs, and fuels. Croatia’s GDP (Purchasing Power Parity) is $79.69 billion and is growing at a real rate of 4.7% with an inflation rate of 4.7%. Croatia ranked 84th out of 185 countries in the World Bank Group’s Ease of Doing Business Ranking.
| Demographic Data | Economic Data | Cultural & Other Data | |||
| Area (sq. km.) | 56,542 | GDP (PPP, $bn) | 79.69 | Capital | Zagrab |
| Population (million) | 4.475 | GDP RealGrowth (%) | -2 | Other Large Cities | Split, Rijeka |
| PopulationGrowth(%) | -0.11 | PerCap GDP ($) | 18,100 | Primary Language | Croatian |
| PopulationUnder15yrs (%) | 14.6 | Prime LendingRate (%) | 7.13 | Urbanization(%) | 58 |
| Population belowpoverty line (%) | 21.1 | Inflation Rate% | 4.7 | Urban Growth(%) | 0.4 |
| Agricultural Workers(% of population) | 2.1 | Unemployment% | 20.4 | Literacy (population %) | 98.8 |
| Industrial Workers(% of population) | 29 | ForeignDirectInvestment ($bn) | 34.27 | Education spending% of GDP | 4.4 |
| Service Workers(% of population) | 69 | Debt-External($bn) | 59.75 | CPI Score(1-100)* | 4.6 |
| Labor Force (mil) | 1.745 | Exports ($bn) | 12.34 | Corporate Income Tax % | 20 |
| Imports ($bn) | 20.76 | Ease of DoingBusiness Ranking ** | 84 |
Click the links below for articles with more information on Franchising in Croatia
Croatian Franchise Association Country Outline (2014)
Doing Business in Croatia(2012
European Commission's New Block Exemption Rules Enter Into Force June 1(2010)
Picking the Best European Countries for Franchising(2009)
US Commercial Service Market Report Croatia(2008)
* CPI Score is published by Transparency International and relates to the perceptions of the degree of corruption as seen by business people and country analysts and ranges between 100 (highly clean) and 0 (highly corrupt).
**Ease of Doing Business Ranking is determined by the World Bank Group and is ranked out of a possible 185 countries.www.doingbusiness.org
Most recent statistics have been taken from the CIA World Factbook unless noted otherwise.