Economy of Croatia

The economy of Croatia is a high-income, service-based social market economy with the tertiary sector accounting for 70% of total gross domestic product (GDP). Croatia has a fully integrated and globalized economy. Croatia's road to globalization started as soon as the country gained independence, with tourism as one of the country's core industries dependent on the global market. Croatia joined the World Trade Organization in 2000, NATO in 2009, has been a member of the European Union since 1 July 2013, and it finally joined the Eurozone and the Schengen Area on 1 January 2023. Croatia is also negotiating membership of OECD organization, which it hopes to join by 2025. Further integration into the EU structures will continue in the coming years, including participation in ESA, CERN as well as EEA membership in the next 24 months. With its entry into the Eurozone, Croatia is now classified as a developed country or an advanced economy, a designation given by the IMF to highly developed industrial nations, with GDP (nominal) per capita above $20,000, which includes all members of the Eurozone. Croatia was hit hard by the 2008 global financial crisis, which affected the Croatian economy with a significant downturn in economic growth as well as progress in economic reform that resulted in six years of recession and a cumulative decline in GDP of 12.5%. Croatia formally emerged from the recession in the fourth quarter of 2014, and had continuous GDP growth until 2020. The Croatian economy reached pre crisis levels in 2019, but due to the Coronavirus pandemic GDP decreased by 8.4% in 2020. Growth rebounded in 2021 and Croatia recorded its largest year-over-year GDP growth since 1991. Croatia's post-pandemic recovery was supported by strong private consumption, better-than-expected performance in the tourism industry, and a boom in merchandise exports. Croatian exports in 2021 and 2022 saw rapid growth of nearly 25% and 26% respectively, with exports in 2021 reaching 143.