ZAGREB, December 4, 2020 – In Croatia there are big differences between the richest and poorest municipalities, with Medulin’s revenue in the past two years amounting to the total revenue of the 25 poorest municipalities, while Zagreb’s revenue exceeds the combined income of 120 cities, according to the Institute of Public Finance.
A newsletter on the budgets of municipalities, cities and counties in 2018 and 2019 shows that the average revenue in 2019 was HRK 225 million for counties, HRK 150 million for cities including Zagreb and HRK 93 million for those excluding Zagreb, and HRK 13 million for municipalities.
In 2019, 45% of local units ran a budget surplus (11 counties, 61 cities, 185 municipalities), down from 60% in 2018 (12 counties, 81 cities, 249 municipalities).
In 2019, the biggest surpluses were recorded by Varazdin County (HRK 24.4m), the City of Rijeka (HRK 69.6m) and Baska Voda Municipality (HRK 9.3m), while the biggest deficits were recorded by Virovitica-Podravina County (HRK 43.5m), the City of Zagreb (HRK 453.6 million) and Medulin Municipality (HRK 51.9m).
However, the number of municipalities and cities with higher per capita revenue increased, the bulk generating between HRK 3,000 and 6,000 in 2018 and 2019. The authors of the newsletter attribute this to the new fiscal equalisation system in force as of 2018.
In 2019, less than 11% of municipalities, only three cities (Duga Resa, Oroslavje, Donja Stubica) and every county generated less than HRK 3,000 in per capita revenue. In 2019, 54 cities or municipalities had a higher per capita revenue than the City of Zagreb (HRK 9.427).
(€1 = HRK 7.5)
