Central Croatia - Economy

Economy

Central Croatia is the most significant economic area of Croatia in terms of its contribution to the national gross domestic product (GDP). The city of Zagreb alone contributes 30.9 percent of Croatia's GDP, followed by Zagreb and Varaždin counties, contributing 5.5 percent and 3.6 percent of the nation's GDP respectively. Overall, the region contributes 54.5 percent of Croatia's GDP and has an average GDP per capita of 12,446 euros—16.7 percent above the national average. By 2011, the national GDP share increased further for the city of Zagreb and Zagreb County, reaching 31.4 percent and 5.7 percent respectively.

The economy of the city of Zagreb represents the bulk of the economy of the Central Croatia macroregion. Its most significant components are wholesale and retail trade, accounting for 38.1% of the city's economic income, followed by the processing industry, encompassing 20.3% of the economy of Zagreb. Further industries, by income share, are the energy industry—the supply of electric power, natural gas, steam, and air conditioning (7.8%); information and communications (7.2%); civil engineering (5.4%), professional technical and scientific services (4.6%); financial services (4.5%); and transport and storage services (3.9%). These account for 91.8% of the total income of the city's economy. Small businesses generate 22% of the total income; 14.4% is attributed to medium enterprises and the rest to large companies. The economy of the Zagreb County, largely contiguous with Zagreb's metropolitan area, is dominated by wholesale and retail trade (53.5% of total income) and the processing industry (25.7%), followed by transport (6.1%) and civil engineering (5.3%). Unlike the economy of the city of Zagreb, the county's economic income is largely generated by small and medium businesses (64.6%). The city of Zagreb and the Zagreb County dominate the economy of the Central Croatia and Croatia as a whole: nearly 91% of all Croatia's wholesale and retail trade companies and 45% of the Croatian processing industry is headquartered there.

In 2010, nine companies headquartered in the Central Croatia ranked among the largest by income among Croatian companies, and 27 out of the top 30 companies were based in the region. The largest were INA, Konzum (a part of Agrokor corporate group), Hrvatska elektroprivreda, and T-Hrvatski Telekom—all of them headquartered in Zagreb. Deloitte ranked these four among the top 500 Central European companies, along with a further nine Croatian companies, all of which are headquartered in the region. Deloitte ranks Agrokor as the largest business among Croatia's enterprises. The largest company by income in the Varaždin County is the 15th-ranked food processing industry company Vindija, while the 17th-ranked petrochemical plant Petrokemija, based in Kutina, is the largest company in the Sisak-Moslavina County. Podravka, a Koprivnica-based food processing company, ranks as the 26th-largest by income in Croatia; it is the largest in the Koprivnica-Križevci County. The largest company by income in the Zagreb County is PIK Vrbovec, a meat processing company headquartered in Vrbovec, which ranks 36th in Croatia. Karlovačka pivovara, a brewery headquartered in Karlovac, is the largest company in the Karlovac County. It ranks 115th in Croatia.