Located at the juncture of Central with Southeast Europe and surrounded by Italy, Slovenia, Hungary, Serbia plus Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Republic of Croatia shipped US$24.9 billion worth of exported products around the globe in 2023.

That dollar amount reflects a 46.2% gain from $17.1 billion five years earlier in 2019.

Year over year, Croatia’s global export sales slowed by -1.7% compared to $25.5 billion during 2022.

The top 5 most valuable Croatian exports are processed petroleum oils, electrical energy, medication mixes in dosage, electrical converters or power units, and petroleum gases. Combined, that quintet of major exports amounted to 16.5% of overall Croatian sales of exported products.

Starting from January 1, 2023, Croatia uses the euro which depreciated by -3.5% against the US dollar since 2019 but strengthened by 2.6% from 2022 to 2023. The weaker European Union currency compared to 2019 made Croatia’s exports paid for in stronger US dollars relatively less expensive for international buyers.

Croatia’s Main Trade Partners

The latest available country-specific data shows that 75.1% of products exported from Croatia was bought by importers in: Italy (12.1% of the Croatian total), Germany (12.1%), Slovenia (11.1%), Bosnia and Herzegovina (10.2%), Hungary (6.8%), Serbia (6.3%), Austria (5.6%), United States of America (2.54%), France (2.53%), Poland (2.4%), Spain (1.8%) and Czech Republic (1.7%).

Croatia joined the European Union on July 1, 2013. Fellow EU members bought 67.3% of all spending on Croatian exports in 2023.

From a continental perspective, 90.8% of Croatia’s exports by value was delivered to fellow European countries while 4.3% was sold to importers in Asia. Croatia shipped another 3.1% worth of goods to North America.

Smaller percentages went to buyers in Africa (1.2%), Oceania (0.3%) led by Marshall Islands and Australia, then Latin America (0.2%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean.

Given Croatia’s population of 3.84 million people, its total $24.9 billion worth of exported goods in 2023 translates to roughly $6,500 for every resident in the European nation. That dollar metric matches the average $6,500 per capita one year earlier during 2022.

Croatia’s Top 10 Exports

The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Croatian global shipments during 2023. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Croatia.

1. Mineral fuels including oil: US$3 billion (12.1% of total exports)
2. Electrical machinery, equipment: $2.4 billion (9.5%)
3. Machinery including computers: $2 billion (8.1%)
4. Wood: $1.2 billion (4.8%)
5. Pharmaceuticals: $1.17 billion (4.7%)
6. Vehicles: $872.4 million (3.5%)
7. Articles of iron or steel: $812.3 million (3.3%)
8. Knit or crochet clothing, accessories: $791.1 million (3.2%)
9. Plastics, plastic articles: $738.7 million (3%)
10. Aluminum: $731.1 million (2.9%)

Croatia’s top 10 exports accounted for 54.9% of the overall value of Croatian shipments.

Vehicles represent the fastest grower among the top 10 Croatian export categories, up by 21.5% from 2022 to 2023.

In second place for improving export sales was knitted or crocheted clothing and accessories via a 16.6% advance.

Croatia’s shipments of machinery including computers posted the third-fastest gain in value up by 15.8%, ahead of exported electrical machinery and equipment (up 12.1%).

There was a pair of decliners among Croatia’s top 10 export categories, namely mineral fuels including oil (down -38.9% from 2022) and exported wood (down -16.5%).

At the more granular four-digit Harmonized Tariff System code level, Croatia’s most valuable exported product in 2023 was processed petroleum oils (4.9% of total Croatian exports). That category was trailed by electrical energy (3.4%), medication mixes in dosage (3.2%), electrical converters or power units (2.7%), petroleum gases (2.3%), insulated wire or cable (2%), sawn wood (also 2%), automobile parts or accessories (1.4%), blood fractions including antisera (1.4%), then knitted or crocheted stockings and hosiery (also 1.4%).

Products Generating Croatia’s Greatest Trade Surpluses

The following types of Croatian product shipments represent positive net exports or a trade balance surplus. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports.

In a nutshell, net exports reflect the amount by which foreign spending on a home country’s goods or services exceeds or lags the home country’s spending on foreign goods or services.

1. Wood: US$629 million (Down by -25.7% since 2022)
2. Cereals: $248.6 million (Down by -43.5%)
3. Salt, sulphur, stone, cement: $218.7 million (Up by 18%)
4. Railways, streetcars: $177.2 million (Up by 36.4%)
5. Oil seeds: $106.3 million (Down by -7%)
6. Arms, ammunition: $102.3 million (Down by -28.2%)
7. Live animals: $84.3 million (Up by 341.4%)
8. Glass: $66.6 million (Up by 183%)
9. Fish: $58.7 million (Down by -6.4%)
10. Tobacco, manufactured substitutes: $37.5 million (Reversing a -$57.4 million deficit)

Croatia has highly positive net exports in the international trade of lumber. In turn, these cashflows indicate Croatia’s strong competitive advantages under the wood product category.

Products Creating Croatia’s Largest Trade Deficits

Croatia incurred an overall -US$18.3 billion trade deficit during 2023, reducing by -2.1% from -$18.7 billion in red ink one year earlier in 2022.

Below are exports from Croatia that result in negative net exports or product trade balance deficits. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on home country Croatia’s goods trail Croatian importer spending on foreign products.

1. Mineral fuels including oil: US-$4.1 billion (Down by -35% since 2022)
2. Vehicles: -$2.6 billion (Up by 40%)
3. Machinery including computers: -$1.7 billion (Up by 6.4%)
4. Electrical machinery, equipment: -$1.1 billion (Up by 13.4%)
5. Plastics, plastic articles: -$896.5 million (Down by -5.8%)
6. Pharmaceuticals: -$679.1 million (Down by -2.6%)
7. Iron, steel: -$630.4 million (Down by -21.7%)
8. Meat: -$585.5 million (Up by 28.3%)
9. Optical, technical, medical apparatus: -$527.6 million (Up by 23%)
10. Clothing, accessories (not knit or crochet): -$349.3 million (Up by 13.2%)

Croatia has negative net exports and therefore deep international trade deficits for petroleum gases, refined petroleum oil, crude oil, electrical energy, and coal under the mineral fuels-related product category.

These cashflow deficiencies clearly indicate Croatia’s competitive disadvantages in the international fossil fuel market, but also represent key opportunities for Croatia to improve its position in the global economy through focused innovations particularly in alternative energy sources.

Croatian Export Companies

Not one of Croatia’s corporations rank among Forbes Global 2000.

Wikipedia does list exporters from Croatia. Selected examples are shown below.

• Efke (photographic papers, chemicals)
• Koestlin (biscuits, other confectionery products)
• Podravka (food)
• Rimac Automobili (electric vehicles)
• Vindija (dairy products)
• Viro (refined sugar)

 
In macroeconomic terms, Croatia’s total exported goods represent 15.1% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2023 ($164.7 billion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 15.1% for exports to overall GDP in PPP for 2023 compares to 16.3% for 2022. Those percentages suggest a relatively decreasing reliance on products sold on international markets for Croatia’s total economic performance, albeit based on a short timeframe.

Another key indicator of a country’s economic performance is its unemployment rate. Croatia’s unemployment rate averaged 6.783% for 2023, down from an average 8.092% in 2022 according to statistics from the International Monetary Fund.
6.319% 23(6.783%YrAgo)

Zagreb is the capital city of the Republic of Croatia.

See also Slovenia’s Top 10 Exports, Italy’s Top Trading Partners, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Top 10 Exports, Germany’s Top 10 Exports and United Kingdom’s Top 10 Exports

Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Europe: Croatia. Accessed on April 26, 2024

Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on April 26, 2024

International Monetary Fund, Exchange Rates selected indicators (Domestic Currency per U.S. dollar, period average). Accessed on April 26, 2024

International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on April 26, 2024

International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on April 26, 2024

Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on April 26, 2024

Wikipedia, Croatia. Accessed on April 26, 2024

Wikipedia, Gross domestic product. Accessed on April 26, 2024

Wikipedia, List of Companies of Croatia. Accessed on April 26, 2024

Wikipedia, Purchasing power parity. Accessed on April 26, 2024