Press Release - AmCham Survey of the Business Environment in Croatia Results

The American Chamber of Commerce in Croatia (AmCham Croatia) presented the results of the 8th Survey of the Business Environment in Croatia conducted in the period from December 11, 2023, to February 9, 2024, on a sample of 116 board members of domestic and international companies in Croatia. “Despite good business results in 2023 and optimistic business plans (the majority of companies participating in the survey had better business results in 2023 than in the previous year), there is a noticeable increase in the percentage of companies whose results remained the same as in the previous year. The lack of adequate workforce, inflation, and taxation of labor are highlighted as the main limiting business factors,” according to Andrea Doko Jelušić, Executive Director of AmCham Croatia.

Doko Jelušić added that for more than 63% of respondents, business activities in 2023 were better than in the previous year, while for 10%, business activities in 2023 were worse than in 2022. Nearly half of the companies recorded an increase in the number of employees, while just over a third kept the same number of employees, which is in line with last year’s results. A significant number of respondents (59%) rated the experience of doing business in Croatia as good or very good, and 53% of respondents noted an improvement in business conditions in the last five years.

The respondents saw increased demand for goods and services, trade opportunities, and financing conditions as the biggest improvements in the past five years, while they linked the biggest deterioration in business conditions with the price of labor, the availability and the quality of the workforce, and the quality of the legal framework.

“Nearly 80% of respondents plan to expand their business, compared to 73% in last year’s survey. As many as 72% of the companies plan to create new jobs in the next three years, and 1/5 of them plan to hire more than 20 new employees. Less than 4% of the companies plan to decrease the number of employees in the next three years, which is significantly less than last year’s 14%,” said Doko Jelušić.

“Compared to the previous year (2022), in 2023, almost 2/3 of AmCham’s members recorded similar business results. Nearly half of the companies employed additional staff, but there was a slight increase in the percentage of companies that laid off employees, as well. Inflation was not the focus of businesses in 2021, whereas it was among the main limiting business factors in 2022 and 2023. The lack of an adequate workforce has once again taken first place in 2023, as opposed to its third place last year”, said John Gašparac, first vice-president of the AmCham Board of Governors.

The survey covered the following areas: business activities in 2023, the business environment, the impact of institutions on the business environment, comparison with the region, and business expectations.