FOREIGN TRADE IN GOODS

The following graph shows the ten countries that were the most important foreign trade partners of the Republic of Croatia in the export of goods in the period from January to March 2020, which accounted for almost 70% of the total export of the Republic of Croatia. Among the EU Member States to which the Republic of Croatia exports the most goods, a decrease in export was recorded in the first three months of 2020 compared to the same period of 2019, as follows: a decrease of 8.6% in export to Germany, of 21.0% in export to Italy and of 4.3% in export to Slovenia. An increase in export in the observed period was recorded only in export to Luxembourg (export of ships) and to Hungary (export of petroleum and oil).

A decrease in export in the aforementioned period was also recorded among the most important foreign trade partners outside the European Union. Therefore, export to Serbia decreased by 5.7% and export to Bosnia and Herzegovina by 9.8%.

The most important foreign trade partners from which the Republic of Croatia imports goods were mostly the EU Member States. In the period from January to March 2020 compared to the same period of the previous year, the largest decrease was recorded in import from Hungary (14.0%) and Italy (12.0%), while the largest increase was recorded in import from Belgium (107.7%), the Netherlands (6.7%) and Austria (4.0%). Such a significant increase in foreign trade with Belgium is a result of the import of pharmaceutical products.

A significant increase in import was also recorded in import from China (13.3%).

Foreign trade in goods between the Republic of Croatia and Italy, 2019

Observing the total foreign trade in goods in 2019, following Germany, Italy was the second most important foreign trade partner of the Republic of Croatia.

Italy was the most important foreign trade partner in the total export, with a share of 14.0% in the total export of the Republic of Croatia, while the total value of goods imported from that country amounted to 13.9%. EU Member States were the most important market for the Republic of Croatia, as foreign trade in goods realised with EU Member States accounted for 68.3% of the total Croatian export and 80.4% of the total Croatian import, according to final data for 2019. Observing the value of goods exported by the Republic of Croatia to Italy, compared to foreign trade in goods within the European Union, the export amounted to 20.4%, while the import of the Republic of Croatia from Italy amounted to 17.3%.

In 2019, the total value of goods exported to Italy amounted to 15.8 billion kuna, with mineral fuels and mineral oils being the most exported goods in the value of 2.0 billion kuna, which represents 13.0% of the total export of goods to Italy. The export of articles of apparel and clothing accessories (knitted and not knitted) amounted to 12.6%, while wood and wood products had a share of 9.9% in the total export of goods to the aforementioned country. As for food products, the highest value was realised by the export of cereals (5.1%) and of fish, crustaceans and molluscs (3.0%).

In 2019, we imported goods worth 25.7 billion kuna from Italy. It is interesting that, as in export, the highest value was realised in the import of mineral fuels and mineral oils, of 4.0 billion kuna, which represents 15.7% of the total import of goods from Italy. The import of articles of apparel and clothing accessories (knitted and not knitted) had a share of 9.3%, while the import of vehicles had a share of 2.8% in the total import of goods from Italy. The import of paper and cardboard amounted to 2.5%, while the import of furniture, including, mattress supports, bedding and other, amounted to 2.1% of the total import from the aforementioned country.

Additional information: