ution of Yugoslavia, the
Republic of Croatia, after Slovenia, was the most prosperous and
industrialized area, with a per capita output perhaps one-third
above the Yugoslav average. Croatia faces considerable economic
problems stemming from: the legacy of longtime communist
mismanagement of the economy; damage during the internecine fighting
to bridges, factories, power lines, buildings, and houses; the large
refugee and displaced population, both Croatian and Bosnian; and the
disruption of economic ties. Western aid and investment, especially
in the tourist and oil industries, would help restore the economy.
The government has been successful in some reform efforts--partially
macroeconomic stabilization policies--and it has normalized relations
with its creditors. Yet it still is struggling with privatization of
large state enterprises and with bank reform. In 1998, Croatia made
progress in reducing its current account deficit to about 8% of GDP
from 12% the previous year. Economic growth continues to lag,
however, and growing levels of inter-enterprise debt plague the
domestic economy. Four commercial banks were put under government
control and a major conglomerate is teetering on collapse.

GDP: purchasing power parity--$23.6 billion (1998 est.)

GDP--real growth rate: 3% (1998 est.)

GDP--per capita: purchasing power parity?$5,100 (1998 est.)

GDP--composition by sector:
agriculture: 12%
industry: 24%
services: 64% (1995 est.)

Population below poverty line: NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 5.4% (1998)

Labor force: 1.63 million (1998)

Labor force--by occupation: industry and mining 31.1%, agriculture
4.3%, government 19.1% (including education and health), other 45.5%
(1993)

Unemployment rate: 18.6% (yearend 1998)

Budget:
revenues: $5.3 billion
expenditures: $6.3 billion, including capital expenditures of $78.5
million (1997 est.)

Industries: chemicals and plastics, machine tools, fabricated
metal, electronics, pig iron and rolled steel products, aluminum,
paper, wood products, construction materials, textiles,
shipbuilding, petroleum and petroleum refining, food and beverages;
tourism

Industrial production growth rate: 3.7% (1998 est.)

Electricity--production: 10.682 billion kWh (1996)

Electricity--production by source:
fossi