FOREIGN TRADE IN GOODS OF THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA, 2023

Final data of the Croatian Bureau of Statistics on foreign trade in goods in 2023 show a decrease in export and import of the Republic of Croatia.

Decline in export, import, and foreign trade deficit, a slight increase in the coverage of import by export

According to the final data of statistics on foreign trade in goods of the Republic of Croatia, export, import, and foreign trade deficit recorded a decrease, while the coverage of import by export showed a slight increase in 2023 as compared to 2022.

The total export of the Republic of Croatia amounted to about 23 billion euro in 2023, which is a decrease of about a billion euro, or 5%, compared to 2022. In the same period, the total import amounted to about 40 billion euro, which is a decrease of about two billion euro, or approximately 5%, compared to 2022.

Foreign trade deficit in 2023 amounted to about 17 billion euro, which is a decrease of about 6%, or approximately a billion euro, compared to 2022. The coverage of import by export amounted to about 58% in 2023, the same as in 2022.

Agriculture, forestry and fishing; Mining and quarrying, and Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply contributed the most to the decrease in export, while Mining and quarrying, and Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply had a significant impact on the decrease in import

In 2023 compared to 2022, in activity section Agriculture, forestry and fishing, which had a share in total export of about 6%, export fell by about 10%, in Mining and quarrying, with a share in total export of about 4%, export fell by about 51%, while in Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply, with a share in total export of about 3%, export fell by about 46%.

The decrease in the total import of the Republic of Croatia in 2023 compared to 2022 is mainly a consequence of the decrease in import in activity section Mining and Quarrying, which has a share in total import of about 7% and in which import fell by about 45%, and in Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply, with a share in total import of about 2%, in which import fell by about 59%.

Manufacturing recorded a growth both in export and import

With a share of about 85% in the total export, Manufacturing recorded a growth in export of about 3% in 2023 compared to 2022, while in total import, with a share of about 86%, it recorded a growth of about 4%.

Machinery and transport equipment accounted for a quarter of the total export and import value

According to the Standard International Trade Classification (SITC), the highest values of export and import were generated by the sector Machinery and transport equipment. In 2023, export in that sector amounted to about six billion euro, accounting for about 25% of the total Croatian export, while import in the same period amounted to about 11 billion euro, accounting for about 27% of the total Croatian import.

Export to other EU Members States on the decline

The most important market for the Republic of Croatia is the EU, as foreign trade in goods with EU Member States accounted for about 68% of the total export in 2023, which decreased by about 6% compared to the previous year.

Export to the most important foreign trade partners from the EU, Italy, Slovenia and Hungary, fell in 2023.

Italy is a partner country to which almost the largest quantity of goods was exported in 2023, with a share of about 12% in the total export and a decline of about 5% compared to the previous year.

Import from other EU Member States increased

Import from other EU Member States in 2023 accounted for about 77% of the total import and increased by about 3% compared to 2022.

A significant increase in 2023 was recorded in import from Germany, the Netherlands and Poland.

Almost the largest quantity of goods in 2023 was imported from Germany, with a share in total import of about 14%, and compared to 2022, import increased by about 8%.

Foreign trade in goods with non-EU countries on the decline

In 2023, foreign trade in goods with third countries accounted for about 32% of the total export, which decreased by about 2% compared to 2022. Foreign trade in goods with third countries accounted for about 23% of the total import, which fell by about 25% compared to 2022.

In 2023, the largest share of export to countries outside the EU was realised with Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a share of 10% in total export. Compared to 2022, export to this country fell by about 8%.

In 2023 compared to 2022, import from the USA decreased significantly, by about 66%, and it accounted for about 3% of the total import of the Republic of Croatia.

Republic of Croatia in EU

According to the provisional data of Eurostat, the import of goods in the EU decreased by 16% in 2023 compared to 2022.

Comparing 2023 with 2022, it can be observed that the import value of energy products in the EU decreased by 35%.

In 2023, the value of imported natural gas in the EU was about 52% lower than in 2022, the same as the value of imported natural gas in the Republic of Croatia.

 

Notice: Since 1 January 2023, a new currency, the euro, has been introduced in the Republic of Croatia. Values for periods before 1 January 2023 have been converted into euro at a fixed exchange rate (1 euro = 7.53450 kuna) and, therefore, the data for 2022 differ from those published in the First Release VT-2023-1-2.

I FOREIGN TRADE IN GOODS OF THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA, EURO

NOTES ON METHODOLOGY

Sources and methods of data collection

The data source for statistics on trading in goods with EU Member States is the Intrastat form used by the reporting units to report on arrivals and/or dispatches on a monthly basis, that is, for each month in which goods physically enter or leave the territory of the Republic of Croatia. The reporting units are all business entities, value added tax payers whose value of trading in goods with EU Member States exceeds the exemption threshold determined for the reference year. For 2023, an exemption threshold of 400 thousand euro for arrivals and of 200 thousand euro for dispatches has been determined. In order to achieve complete harmonisation with the EU methodology and legislation, data on foreign trade in goods have been supplemented with trade value below the exemption threshold after being estimated on the basis of data on supplies and acquisitions of goods in/from EU Member States provided by the Tax Administration Office of the Republic of Croatia.

The data source for statistics on trading in goods with third countries, that is, non-EU countries, are customs declarations on export and import of goods. The Croatian Bureau of Statistics receives the reviewed customs declarations from the Customs Administration of the Republic of Croatia in the form of data records.

Following basic methodological recommendations of the UN Statistical Office and Eurostat, the Croatian Bureau of Statistics statistically processes and disseminates collected Intrastat and Extrastat data as unique information on foreign trade in goods of the Republic of Croatia.

Legal basis

The legal basis for the conduct of the Intrastat survey is the European legislation related to statistics on trading in goods between EU Member States, the Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 as well as the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1197, the Official Statistics Act (NN, No. 25/20), the Annual Implementation Plan of Statistical Activities of the Republic of Croatia 2023 (NN, No. 35/23) and the Customs Administration Act (NN, Nos 68/13, 30/14, 115/16, 39/19, 98/19, 155/23 and 36/24). More detailed notes on methodology for this survey are published on the website of the Croatian Bureau of Statistics at Državni zavod za statistiku - Intrastat (gov.hr).

The legal basis for Extrastat is the European legislation related to statistics on trading in goods with third countries, the Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 as well as the Commission Implementing Regulations (EU) 2020/1197 and 2021/1225 and the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/1704, the Act on the Implementation of the Customs Legislation of the European Union  (NN, No. 40/16), the Official Statistics Act (NN, No. 25/20), the Annual Implementation Plan of Statistical Activities of the Republic of Croatia 2023 (NN, No. 35/23), the Customs Administration Act (NN, Nos 68/13, 30/14, 115/16, 39/19, 98/19, 155/23. and 36/24) and the Ordinance on Filling in the Single Administrative Document (NN, Nos 65/19 and 136/20).

Coverage and comparability

Statistics on foreign trade in goods include all goods exported from or imported into the country. Data on foreign trade in goods include both export and import based on gross inward and outward processing.

Statistical value of goods is the value of goods at the Croatian border. Values for export, i.e. dispatches, are shown as an FOB-type value, while values for import, i.e. arrivals, are shown as a CIF-type value.

Amounts expressed in foreign currencies are converted into euros and US dollars according to the monthly exchange rate lists determined for the reporting month. The mean exchange rate of the Croatian National Bank is used.

In certain tables, the sum total may not equal the sum of individual figures due to the rounding to thousands.

Data by type of activities have been presented according to the NKD 2007 (NN, Nos 58/07 and 72/07), which entered into force on 1 January 2008 and is based on the European classification NACE, Rev. 2, which is obligatory in EU Member States. Data are presented using a production approach by which export and import data are reported according to the manufacturing activity from which the product originates.

Goods listed under export and import are classified, for statistical needs, according to the Standard International Trade Classification (SITC, Rev. 4).

Data on export are shown by countries of destination, while two methodological criteria have been applied, by which data on import are shown by countries. In Extrastat, data on import are shown by countries of origin of goods, while, in Intrastat, data on arrivals of goods are presented by countries of dispatch.

OPEC membership is subject to frequent changes. More detailed information about OPEC member countries is published on the website https://www.opec.org/.

Only customs declarations containing the date of acceptance in a customs office in a particular month are processed for that month as well as Intrastat forms submitted for the reporting month. Already issued data for previous months are changed during the current year in order to classify subsequently received and/or corrected Intrastat forms and customs declarations for earlier periods.

Monthly data are corrected until final data processing for the current year is done (the middle of the next year). Monthly data are considered provisional until the final processing of the current year and dissemination of final data is done. Monthly data for 2022 and 2023 in this First Release are considered final.

Data on foreign trade in goods are available in the time series published on the website of the Croatian Bureau of Statistics under Statistics in Line; Economy – Basic Indicators (data from 2000) and Foreign Trade in Goods (data from 2010).

 

Abbreviations

CEFTA	Central European Free Trade Agreement
CIF	cost, insurance and freight
EC	European Community
EFTA	European Free Trade Association
EU	European Union
Eurostat	Statistical Office of the European Union
FOB	free on board
mln	million
NACE	Statistical Classification of Economic Activities in the European Community
n. e. c.	not elsewhere classified
n. e. s.	not elsewhere specified
NKD 2007	National Classification of Activities, 2007 version
NN	Narodne novine, official gazette of the Republic of Croatia
OPEC	Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries
PSI	provider of statistical information
SITC	Standard International Trade Classification
UN	United Nations
US $	United States dollar
Symbols
-	no occurrence

 

 

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Persons responsible:
Milenka Primorac Čačić, Director of Business Statistics Directorate
Lidija Brković, Director General

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Boro Žderić and Dubravka Drempetić

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