In 2023, the Croatian established Blue Economy sectors employ about 149 000 people and generate around €4.6 billion in GVA. The Blue Economy has an extremely positive impact on the Croatian workforce, employing 9.4% of the national workforce. This share has decreased slightly on a year-to-year basis (9.5% in 2022) and is still far from pre-Covid levels (10.5% in 2019). Similarly, Croatia has recorded a decrease in contribution of Blue Economy sectors to the overall GVA, moving from 7.4% in 2022 to 6.9% in 2023. In absolute values, the GVA generated by the blue economy in Croatia has however increased (from €4.1 billion in 2022).
The Croatian Blue Economy is dominated by Coastal tourism, which contributes to 75% of Blue Economy jobs and 75% to GVA in 2023. The tourism sector has almost entirely recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic (in 2019, the sector contribution to blue economy workforce was 77%, to the GVA was 79%). The employment within the sector has decreased marginally compared to 2022 by roughly 2 000 units, whilst the GVA has increased from €3.1 billion in 2022 to €3.4 billion in 2023.
The sector that employs the second biggest shares of blue workers is Marine living resources (11%). This sector also contributes fairly to the blue economy GVA (6%) in 2023. Maritime transport contributes to 10% of the GVA of the entire Blue Economy, and provides roughly 7% of blue jobs.
In 2023, Croatia is the 8th-largest contributor in terms of employment and GVA for Coastal tourism in EU. Croatia is an important contributor to the employment within Maritime transport (ranked 9th in EU).
In 2024, The busiest container ports in Croatia are: Port of Omisalj (111th busiest port in EU in terms of gross weight of goods handled), the Port of Rijeka (138th) and the Port of Ploce (143rd). In terms of passengers embarked and disembarked in ports, Split is the first ranked in Croatia and the 19th in EU, whilst Zadar and Dubrovnik rank 37th and 40th.
Together with Italy, Croatia was part of the Interreg ADRIREEF, which had the objective to strengthen the blue economy through the innovative exploitation od Adriatic Reefs. A further project, InnovaMARE was carried out between 2020 and 2023 with the objective to enhance collaboration on technology transfer.
In the timeframe 2021-2027, Croatia will receive €243.6 M from EMFAF to support sustainable fisheries (46.4%), sustainable aquaculture, processing and marketing (39.6%), sustainable blue economy (13.6%), and to strengthen international ocean governance (0.4%).
There are many educational opportunities in the realm of blue sectors offered by Croatian universities. Some of the most specialised universities, such as the University of Zadar and the University of Rijeka, offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs.
For more national level data, please visit the Dashboards section within the EU Blue Economy Observatory, where you can also find information about Educational and Employment opportunities in the Blue Economy sectors.
Text version
This interactive dashboard presents the evolution of the blue economy for Croatia. It is designed to provide insights into key economic indicators over time.
At the top of the dashboard, there is a drop-down menu that allows users to select one of the following data categories:
- Employment: Number of jobs and workforce trends in the blue economy sectors.
- Gross Value Added (GVA): The contribution of the blue economy to the national economy.
- Turnover and Gross Profit: Revenue and profitability metrics of blue economy industries.
- Investment: Capital investment levels in blue economy sectors.
Once a category is selected, the main panel updates to display relevant visualisations, such as line charts or bar graphs, showing trends over time. These visualisations are accompanied by labels, legends, and tooltips to ensure clarity and accessibility.
The dashboard is navigable via keyboard and compatible with screen readers. All interactive elements are clearly labeled, and data visualisations include alternative text descriptions summarising key insights.