Companies are operating, but there are no employees

Just over 40 percent of registered legal entities in Croatia are inactive, while among active legal entities more than 60 percent of them, specifically 61.8 percent, have no employees, according to data from the Croatian Bureau of Statistics on the number and structure of business entities at the end of September this year.

At the end of September, there were 308,830 registered business entities in Croatia, including companies, enterprises, cooperatives, as well as institutions, bodies, associations, and organizations. Of this number, 58.8 percent or 181,718 entities were active at the end of September. The largest share and highest activity are held by companies, of which 169,578 were registered, and 151,361 were active, representing a share of 89.3 percent. 

Of nearly 182 thousand active business entities, more than 60 percent of them, or 61.8 percent, are without employees. At the end of September, 112,237 active business entities had no employees. Just under a third of active entities, 55,133 or 30.3 percent, had between one and nine employees, while those with 10 to 49 employees accounted for 5.9 percent or 10,751 entities. The share of medium-sized entities, those with 50 to 249 employees, was simultaneously 1.7 percent (3,033 legal entities), and only 0.3 percent are large entities with more than 250 employees, totaling 564 (325 entities with 250 to 499 employees and 239 entities with more than 500 employees). 

The structure of active legal entities by ownership forms shows that private ownership is the most common – at the end of September, 81.9 percent of the total number of active legal entities were privately owned. There were 0.7 percent in state ownership, 0.8 percent in mixed ownership, 1.2 percent in cooperative ownership, and for 15.4 percent, the form of ownership is not monitored. 

Data on the structure of business entities by activities show that more than half of registered and active entities are represented in four areas of activity – trade with a share of 27.9 percent registered and 22.4 percent active, manufacturing industry with a share of 8.2 percent registered and 9.6 percent active, professional, scientific and technical activities (9.1 and 11.9 percent respectively), and other service activities (15.5 percent registered and 11.1 percent active). 

According to DZS data, at the end of September, there were also 82,874 entities in crafts and freelance professions in Croatia. Among craft and freelance entities, the majority are in the trade sector (almost 11 thousand), followed by accommodation and food preparation and serving activities (9.6 thousand), etc.