Press Release - AmCham's Survey of the Business Environment in Croatia - 2020

“Although a significant number of respondents rate the experience of doing business in Croatia as average (43%), compared to 2018, there is an increase in the positive experience of doing business in Croatia, which was 49% in 2019, as well as a decrease in negative experiences. There were 52% of respondents that noticed an improvement in business conditions in the last five years,” said Andrea Doko Jelušić, Executive Director of AmCham, when presenting the results of the Survey of the Business Environment in Croatia conducted in the period from December 16, 2019 to February 13, 2020 on a sample of 111 board members of domestic and international companies in Croatia.

“Despite four rounds of tax reform, which have been recognized and welcomed by the business community, respondents point to the taxation of labor as the main limiting factor,” said Doko Jelušić. “This could be explained by the fact that this year employers put an emphasis on retaining employees, while last year the emphasis was on finding an adequate workforce,” concluded Doko Jelušić.

“Business results in 2019 were good for a significant number of respondents, and they also announced further expansion of business operations in Croatia. Although some positive changes can be seen in the assessment of the business environment in Croatia, a comparison with Central and Eastern European countries shows that half of the respondents rate business conditions in Croatia worse than in other Central and Eastern European countries, and only 13% consider them better,” said Ruža Tomić Fontana, President of AmCham’s Board of Governors.

The survey covered the following areas: business activities in 2019, business environment, the impact of institutions on the business environment, comparison with the region, business expectations, and business operations with the United States.

In the past year, 67% of respondents gave a positive assessment of their business activities, while 55% of them increased the number of employees.

Respondents highlighted the taxation of labor, lack of adequate workforce, and high tax burden on business operations as the three main limiting factors in the business activities of their companies in 2019.

The biggest disadvantages of conducting business in Croatia compared to CEE countries are the small market, the level of taxation, and the slow administration.

In the next three years, 80% of AmCham members plan to expand their business operations in Croatia, while only 2% plan on reducing them. As for creating new jobs, 71% of companies are planning to recruit for new positions in the next three years.