The development and structure of the Croatian economy

Abstract

The first part of the article deals with the general and historical conditions of the development of the Croatian economy, with an emphasis on industry as the dominant branch. The relatively favorable developmental possibilities of Croatia are stressed, with the combination of the agrarian Pannonian region, the forested stock-farming highland regions and the tourism-transit front of the Adriatic. The basic data on periods of historical development are mentioned, with an explanation of the five developmental stages.

The second half of the article deals with a thorough analysis of the basic processes of the restructuring of the Croatian economy. Emphasis is placed on the decreased significance of agrarian and agricultural production (in 1961 Croatia had an agricultural population of 43.7%, while in 1991 it was only 9.6%), and the domination of industry, which in 1987 accounted for 35.1 percent of the employed population and 50.3 percent of the gross national product. The processes of restructuring and transition from a socialist to a market economy, as well as the wartime crisis, caused a fall in the value of industrial products to 43 percent in the years from 1990 to 1994. The branch and spatial restructuring of the economy and industry, privatization processes and the problem of increased unemployment are also analyzed.