Croatia

Croatia: strong, sustained growth, 1990–2025

Reconstruction after the 1990s Yugoslav wars gave way to steady, tourism-driven growth, cemented by 2013 EU accession and 2023 eurozone entry. Between 1990 and 2025, Croatia's GDP per capita grew from $5,369 to $27,104 (current US$), a compound annual growth rate of 4.7% — strong, sustained growth. Annual GDP growth averaged 1.4% with a year-to-year standard deviation of 6.2 points, reflecting considerable volatility and periodic crises. Structurally, agriculture's share of the economy moved from 5.7% to 2.8% of GDP (a classic decline as the economy industrialized/modernized), while services rose from 50.4% to 60.9% of GDP, underscoring a shift toward a services-driven economy. On human development, life expectancy rose from 70.2 to 78.9 years, while tertiary school enrollment moved from 36.4% to 81.2%, while the urban population share grew from 47.3% to 57.8%.

What this growth cost: Growth was not without cost: per-capita CO2 emissions rose from 4.53 to 4.83 tonnes CO2e per person; income inequality (Gini index) widened from 22.8 to 30.1; the poverty headcount ratio increased from 0.0% to 0.3%.