Economy—overview: Before the dissolution of Yugoslavia, the Republic of Croatia, after Slovenia, was the most prosperous and industrialized area, with a per capita output perhaps one-third above the Yugoslav average. Croatia faces considerable economic problems stemming from: the legacy of longtime communist mismanagement of the economy; damage during the internecine fighting to bridges, factories, power lines, buildings, and houses; the large refugee and displaced population, both Croatian and Bosnian; and the disruption of economic ties. Western aid and investment, especially in the tourist and oil industries, would help restore the economy. The government has been successful in some reform efforts—partially macroeconomic stabilization policies—and it has normalized relations with its creditors. Yet it still is struggling with privatization of large state enterprises and with bank reform. In 1998, Croatia made progress in reducing its current account deficit to about 8% of GDP from 12% the previous year. Economic growth continues to lag, however, and growing levels of inter-enterprise debt plague the domestic economy. Four commercial banks were put under government control and a major conglomerate is teetering on collapse.

GDP: purchasing power parity—$23.6 billion (1998 est.)

GDP—real growth rate: 3% (1998 est.)

GDP—per capita: purchasing power parity—$5,100 (1998 est.)

GDP—composition by sector:
agriculture: 12%
industry: 24%
services: 64% (1995 est.)

Population below poverty line: NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 5.4% (1998)

Labor force: 1.63 million (1998)

Labor force—by occupation: industry and mining 31.1%, agriculture 4.3%, government 19.1% (including education and health), other 45.5% (1993)

Unemployment rate: 18.6% (yearend 1998)

Budget:
revenues: $5.3 billion
expenditures: $6.3 billion, including capital expenditures of $78.5 million (1997 est.)

Industries: chemicals and plastics, machine tools, fabricated metal, electronics, pig iron and rolled steel products, aluminum, paper, wood products, construction materials, textiles, shipbuilding, petroleum and petroleum refining, food and beverages; tourism

Industrial production growth rate: 3.7% (1998 est.)

Electricity—production: 10.682 billion kWh (1996)

Electricity—production by source:
fossil fuel: 29.25%
hydro: 70.75%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (1996)

Electricity—consumption: 14.632 billion kWh (1996)

Electricity—exports: 1 billion kWh (1996)

Electricity—imports: 4.95 billion kWh (1996)

Agriculture—products: wheat, corn, sugar beets, sunflower seed, alfalfa, clover, olives, citrus, grapes, vegetables; livestock, dairy products

Exports: $4.5 billion (f.o.b., 1998)

Exports—commodities: machinery and transport equipment 13.6%, miscellaneous manufactures 27.6%, chemicals 14.2%, food and live animals 12.2%, raw materials 6.1%, fuels and lubricants 9.4%, beverages and tobacco 2.7% (1993)

Exports—partners: Germany 22%, Italy 21%, Slovenia 18% (1994)

Imports: $8.4 billion (c.i.f., 1998)

Imports—commodities: machinery and transport equipment 23.1%, fuels and lubricants 8.8%, food and live animals 9.0%, chemicals 14.2%, miscellaneous manufactured articles 16.0%, raw materials 3.5%, beverages and tobacco 1.4% (1993)

Imports—partners: Germany 21%, Italy 19%, Slovenia 10% (1994)

Debt—external: $8 billion (October 1998)

Economic aid—recipient: $NA

Currency: 1 Croatian kuna (HRK) = 100 lipas

Exchange rates: Croatian kuna per US$1—6.317 (January 1999), 6.362 (1998), 6.157 (1997), 5.434 (1996), 5.230 (1995), 5.996 (1994)

Fiscal year: calendar year