The City of Zagreb and Međimurje, Istria, Dubrovnik-Neretva and Zagreb Counties make up half of Croatia’s GDP.
Economists estimate that Croatia will not reach its 2008 GDP before 2019, but the county-level GDP data published yesterday show that the City of Zagreb and four counties, Zagreb, Međimurje, Istria and Dubrovnik-Neretva, have crossed the threshold in 2015, reports Večernji List on February 16, 2018.
These five local government units account for half of the national GDP. In 2015, Croatia’s GDP stood at 338.9 billion kuna, down by 8.7 billion kuna compared to 2008. However, the four counties and the capital city recorded a slight increase compared to 2008, from 1.7 percent in Istria to 2.6 percent in the most propulsive Međimurje County.
A third of the national economy is concentrated in Zagreb – 33 percent, compared to 30 percent in 2008, which means that the economy is becoming even more centralised than before. Zagreb is followed by Primorje-Gorski Kotar County (8.4 percent, compared to 8.2 percent in 2008) and Split-Dalmatia County (8.3 percent, compared to 8.6 percent). Next in line is Istria County (6.2 percent), while the fifth position is now occupied by Zagreb County (5.9 percent), which jumped over Osijek-Baranja County (5.6 percent).
The worst results were recorded by Virovitica-Podravina County, where the GDP in 2015 decreased by about 20 percent when compared to 2008. Lika-Senj County (17.4 percent) and Vukovar-Srijem County (13 percent) are close behind.
If the GDP is calculated in the euro, instead of the kuna, the picture for the whole country is even worse, with not a single county reaching its 2008 GDP.
Croatia has not lost only jobs and production capacity, but also a lot of population. According to the estimates of the Central Bureau of Statistics, about 230,000 fewer people were living in Croatia in 2015 than in 2008. The dramatic collapse in the number of inhabitants means that, when GDP per capita is analysed, the results are somewhat improved, with eight counties having better results than in 2008.
In 2015, Zagreb had GDP in the amount of about 18,500 euro per capita and was the only part of Croatia, in addition to Istria County, which was near the European average when the purchasing power parity is taken into account. Croatia’s GDP per capita stood at 10,500 euro, with the most impoverished Virovitica-Podravina County being at just half of that number.
Since the Croatian economy grew by about three percent a year in 2016 and 2017, it can be expected that the Adriatic counties have managed to rise above the 2008 levels in the meantime. Still, Slavonia and the continental part of the country will not reach the threshold for many years.
Translated from Večernji List (reported by Ljubica Gatarić).
