Čakovec-East Industrial Zone, Međimurje County, northern Croatia, with factories and facilities for processing poultry, production of textile garments, for processing cereals, aluminium casts, etc.
Main industries
Machinery and equipment, shipbuilding, petrochemicals, electricity, electronics, wood industry and furniture, pharmaceuticals, food and beverages, cement and construction, chemical and plastics industry, textiles, footwear and leather production
Industrial production in Croatia has a most important place in total production. It includes machinery, tools, various fabricated metal products, ships and boats, mineral oils and distillates, timber products, furniture and bed equipment, military hardware, clothing and footwear with accessories, cement, bricks and other building materials, etc. There is also a notable production in energy sector, mining and water supply.
During the process of transition (in the 1990s and later) many companies were closed down, or were damaged during the Croatian War of Independence. It happened mostly to firms of timber, metal and textile branches. Some industries, however, recovered and achieved later remarkable results. Significant production level has been reached in the construction and energy-related activities as well. A great number of companies has been very active in foreign trade.
During the Great Recession, Croatian industry suffered from a decline of productionoutput, revenue growth at a slower pace and increased unemployment. The share of industry in the whole economy sank from year to year; in 2010, for instance, industry accounted for 28.1% of activity. Negative trends were changed not earlier than in 2014, as the industrial production achieved a small rate of growth of 1.3%[4] in comparison with the year before.
In period from 2014 to 2017 industry production grew by 10.8% with average annual growth of 2.7%.[4][3][5][6]
The annual growth rate of industry production in 2016 rose by 5%.[5] The fastest growth of production in 2016 was recorded by electrical equipment production sector (22.2% in comparison with previous year). At the same time, some industrial branches generated decline of production.
The share of labour force in industry in 2015 was 18.5% of overall employment in Croatia, showing at the same time trends with negative lines.
In 2020 industry production fell by 3.4% in comparison with previous year. In the first half of 2021, industry production grew by 9.6% in comparison to the same period of the previous year.
Croatian industry's share of 21.2% of the country's 2015 GDP makes it the second largest sector of the economy after services. Its expected growth is based on larger consumption and foreign investments. Some of the significant investment projects into the energy and environmental protection sector have already been finalized lately.
^Oreščanin, Višnja; Mikelić, Luka; Lovrenčić, Ivanka; Barišić, Delko; Mikulić, Nenad; Lulić, Stipe (2006). "Environmental Contamination Assessment of the Surroundings of the Ex-Ferrochromium Smelter Dugi Rat, Croatia". Journal of Environmental Science and Health, Part A. 41 (11): 2547–2555. doi:10.1080/10934520600927898. PMID17000545. S2CID31081570.
