Across the Croatian economy's total economic output (GDP), the nation's twenty counties contribute varied levels of activity. This list of Croatian counties by GDP reflect historic infrastructure development, transportation routes, and geographic setting various parts of the country. Certain economic sectors and industries are concentrated among select regions in Croatia. The city-county of Zagreb, the capital of Croatia, maintains the highest GDP of all counties, followed by coastal counties where tourism is common. The economic output of these counties are measured in nominal and purchasing power (PPS or PPP) terms.
Economic growth The Croatian economy is significantly centralized, as the bulk of its GDP (31.4%) is generated within the nation's capital and the most populous city—Zagreb. The city administered area covers 1.1% of territory, and encompasses 18.4% of Croatia's population. Zagreb's GDP amounts to €14 billion, surpassing the second ranked county in terms of GDP—Split-Dalmatia County—by more than €10 billion. The Split-Dalmatia is closely followed by Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, the two counties centering on the second and third largest cities in Croatia—Split and Rijeka—and benefiting from considerable trade, processing industry, and tourism.
The two counties contribute 8.6% and 8.4% of Croatia's GDP respectively. Three following counties, ranked by the GDP, are Istria, Osijek-Baranja and Zagreb counties—the latter encompassing territory surrounding the capital. The lowest GDP is achieved by Lika-Senj, Požega-Slavonia and Virovitica-Podravina counties. The low figures, ranging from €435 to €561 million are consequence of not only low level of economic development, but also of low populations of the counties.
All the counties recorded steady growth of their GDP until 2008, when the values peaked. Between 2000 and 2008 Croatian GDP grew by 105%, but growth of economy in the individual counties was not uniform—the growth in the period ranged from 60% recorded in the Sisak-Moslavina County to as much as 154% in the Zadar County. The greatest growth rate in the period, besides the Zadar County, was achieved by Dubrovnik-Neretva (135%) and Šibenik-Knin counties as well as the city of Zagreb (120%). In 2009, Croatian GDP fell by 5.5%, with similarly uneven variation of the county GDP figures. The largest drops were recorded in Virovitica-Podravina (−15.1%), Lika-Senj (−11.6%), Šibenik-Knin (−11.4%) and Krapina-Zagorje (−11.3%) counties. The lowest rate of economic decline was observed in Istria (−2.5%), Zagreb (−2.6%) and Sisak-Moslavina (−2.6%) counties.
Counties by GDP (PPS) per capita
Rank County2024 (in EUR)2024 (in percentage of EU average)1 City of Zagreb52,5001312 Primorje-Gorski Kotar35,200883 Istria34,80087-31,100784 Dubrovnik-Neretva30,700775 Zagreb County27,200686 Varaždin26,300667 Lika-Senj26,300668 Koprivnica-Križevci25,500649 Split-Dalmatia25,4006410 Zadar25,3006311 Međimurje25,2006312 Šibenik-Knin24,0006013 Sisak-Moslavina23,5005914 Osijek-Baranja23,2005815 Karlovac22,8005716 Bjelovar-Bilogora20,9005217 Krapina-Zagorje19,9005018 Brod-Posavina19,7004919 Vukovar-Syrmia18,9004720 Virovitica-Podravina16,9004221 Požega-Slavonia16,80042 Counties by nominal GDP Counties of Croatia by GDP, in million Euro County 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Bjelovar-Bilogora520569639645688698800804953917834823786790789809855874925971 Brod-Posavina5646286877137797718499181,0329529149178958888538799179691,0161,130 Dubrovnik-Neretva5736306767548839771,0831,2921,3401,2671,2481,2081,2021,2341,2601,3131,4031,5321,5871,789 Istria1,4201,6141,8141,9802,1822,2912,4822,7292,8422,7682,7732,7622,6352,6312,6662,7472,9473,1063,1623,343 Karlovac5867137857587778359431,0481,1079989699789489619349611,0081,0311,0351,098 Koprivnica-Križevci7237628308458538559881,0461,0699989359269069199059169619919791,076 Krapina-Zagorje5696556817067298158589479748688078158038238378679289901,0211,116 Lika-Senj235250309384522407429417491445416405382388379388402427436478 Međimurje5105626446546917378418921,0349779339419291,0889599861,0451,1091,1421,255 Osijek-Baranja1,3521,4591,6681,7001,8722,0432,2492,6002,8342,6422,5072,5142,4212,4382,3752,4362,5442,5812,5722,793 Požega-Slavonia325355380420451464478508554504497482458461433440453466499545 Primorje-Gorski Kotar2,1112,1382,2612,5432,6853,0663,3713,5604,0603,8203,8223,9053,9813,8493,8493,8543,9614,1774,2704,306 Sisak-Moslavina9259389729891,0331,1371,3351,2621,4351,4471,4511,4391,4341,3061,2211,2681,2471,2661,3091,416 Split-Dalmatia1,9242,1182,3182,5292,8983,0613,4273,9344,1153,8043,7883,6953,5783,5833,5813,7123,9134,1334,2784,819 Šibenik-Knin4234505115816597487659029238028598568358518528629039881,0271,124 Varaždin8949961,1391,1751,1661,2291,3471,4511,6371,5491,4631,4561,4361,4671,4621,5061,6011,7181,8652,014 Virovitica-Podravina357406438458471476555590615546516526504496455460485500536580 Vukovar-Syrmia6246867628168649281,0791,1091,2601,1711,0901,0921,0491,0489991,0311,0761,1201,1711,299 Zadar6277338299821,0551,1661,2381,4431,6181,4781,4051,3831,3661,3861,3951,4451,5271,6711,7971,940 Zagreb County1,2841,2721,5831,6531,8232,0592,1282,4192,6532,5552,3982,4492,4392,4502,4662,5492,6512,8323,0113,333 City of Zagreb6,9127,8068,5699,45810,40011,71712,95414,05915,43914,56115,58615,38315,05514,77814,75415,20615,81816,78217,54419,178Source: Croatian Bureau of Statistics
Counties by nominal GDP per capita
The highest nominal GDP per capita is recorded in the City of Zagreb at €22,695 in 2018. The second, third and fourth ranked counties in terms of the GDP per capita are Istria, Primorje-Gorski Kotar and Dubrovnik-Neretva, at €15,570, €14,797 and €13,277, respectively. The four are the only counties of Croatia enjoying GDP per capita exceeding national average of €12,270. The lowest GDP per capita is recorded in the Virovitica-Podravina (€6,525), Brod-Posavina (€6,607) and Požega-Slavonia (€6,620) counties.
The city of Zagreb ranks first among in terms of the GDP per capita continuously since 2000. The Istria County or the Primorje-Gorski Kotar County rank the second and third throughout the period except in 2004, when the Lika-Senj County takes third place. The largest net change of the ranking was achieved by the Šibenik-Knin County, improving its ranking by 11 places since 2000 when its GDP per capita was the 19th largest in Croatia. The Brod-Posavina, Požega-Slavonia, Virovitica-Podravina and Vukovar-Syrmia counties occupy the last four rankings continuously since 2000.
Counties of Croatia by GDP per capita, in Euro County 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Bjelovar-Bilogora4,0074,3834,9515,0425,4175,5396,3956,4897,7567,5226,9076,8886,6576,7666,8297,1077,6477,9587,9869,132 Brod-Posavina3,4253,8124,1714,3454,7664,7315,2235,6606,3845,9215,7315,7895,6915,7005,5395,8106,1956,7266,6078,211 Dubrovnik-Neretva4,8865,3735,7386,3787,4428,1979,02510,69811,02410,35110,1749,8559,81210,08310,29710,73711,50012,60813,27714,673 Istria7,1848,1609,1179,88010,81311,26712,11613,22113,69113,28513,29713,27012,68412,66512,81113,19914,16514,91515,57015,960 Karlovac4,1815,0825,6355,4915,6666,1396,9897,8308,3417,5987,4587,6157,4617,6517,5417,8688,3738,7018,3019,510 Koprivnica-Križevci5,9556,2696,8587,0257,1347,1818,3358,8789,1088,5458,0528,0207,8908,0397,9698,1498,6609,0668,71110,110 Krapina-Zagorje4,0894,7024,9195,1295,3235,9726,3137,0087,2506,4796,0496,1426,0916,2876,4396,7217,2657,8307,9198,954 Lika-Senj4,2194,4935,5826,9659,4667,4467,9277,7839,2778,5158,0917,9847,6527,8747,8128,1348,5719,2978,87810,725 Međimurje4,4724,9305,6445,7296,0566,4597,3757,8309,0868,5838,1968,2738,1769,5928,4808,7519,3289,98910,30211,476 Osijek-Baranja4,2474,5825,2395,3545,9146,4807,1748,3539,1628,5788,1838,2497,9908,1057,9658,2708,7799,0988,68410,232 Požega-Slavonia3,9044,2554,5725,0665,4795,6585,8746,2866,8976,3306,3146,1945,9716,0815,7745,9736,3076,6816,6208,217 Primorje-Gorski Kotar7,1237,2107,6228,5759,05110,32611,33711,95913,64212,84712,87313,18513,47413,06113,10313,20413,68614,55914,79715,232 Sisak-Moslavina4,8844,9525,1585,2855,5526,1567,2926,9668,0188,1848,3218,3728,4657,8327,4597,8997,9398,2847,8689,706 Split-Dalmatia4,4224,8665,2785,7236,5086,8207,5938,6849,0598,3618,3238,1217,8667,8767,8768,1848,6559,1839,63610,759 Šibenik-Knin3,8554,0944,6315,2545,9466,7336,8638,0818,2627,2027,7887,8557,7647,9988,0868,2678,7769,7379,71311,325 Varaždin4,9525,5166,3276,5506,5256,8907,5648,1659,2338,7588,2988,2818,1938,4128,4348,7529,38910,17610,89912,112 Virovitica-Podravina3,8874,4164,7935,0295,2225,3296,2536,7037,0486,3266,0376,2136,0125,9795,5425,7046,1356,4806,5257,869 Vukovar-Syrmia3,2773,6044,0184,3304,6174,9855,8256,0126,8536,4016,0166,0945,8565,9615,7726,0826,4986,9996,7308,606 Zadar4,0504,7265,2896,1936,5797,1867,5348,6769,6408,7528,2818,1147,9858,0848,1468,4789,0039,90110,80311,544 Zagreb County4,3274,2835,2795,4595,9666,6866,8597,7458,4438,0897,5657,7037,6607,6877,7488,0508,4349,0839,71010,769 City of Zagreb8,96210,11411,09112,23813,41815,08216,64218,00519,70918,52619,76519,45318,98618,57818,47918,99219,71120,87922,69523,742Source:
See also Economy of Croatia List of European Union regions by GDP
References