The Textile Industry in Croatia is Growing, Most Successful in Croatian Zagorje

The Croatian textile industry has significantly changed from 2002 to 2016: some companies have ceased to exist, former giants are no longer so large, and the number of workers has decreased, yet although most companies operate at a profit, wages remain lower compared to the national average.

This is shown by the analysis of the Financial Agency (Fina) on the business results of entrepreneurs in the textile industry from 2002 to 2016. According to this analysis, in 2002 there were 255 entrepreneurs in the textile industry, and in 2016 there were 279.

At the same time, the total revenues of the textile industry in 2016 amounted to 1.55 billion kuna, which is slightly less compared to 1.59 billion kuna in 2002.

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However, the number of companies that operated at a profit during this period increased. In 2002, there were 166 profit-makers, and in 2016 there were 206. These entrepreneurs achieved a profit of 89 million kuna in 2016, while the losses of others amounted to about 43 million kuna. Thus, the consolidated financial result of all in the textile industry indicates a profit of 46 million kuna.

For comparison, in 2002, the consolidated result in the textile industry showed a loss of 124 million kuna, and in 2009 a loss of 71 million. The best financial result for the textile industry was achieved in 2015 – amounting to 119.3 million kuna.

Export Growth, Employment Decline

Two years ago, Croatian textile manufacturers exported products worth 812 million kuna, while in 2002 the value was 605 million kuna.

The number of employees in the textile industry has drastically decreased in the meantime. While in 2002 there were 8,552 employees in this sector, two years ago there were 3,523, or almost 59 percent or 5,029 employees less.

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Although wages remain at extremely low levels, with an average of 3,675 kuna in 2016, they were even lower at the beginning of the 2000s – 2,131 kuna. Although wages in the textile industry increased during this period, in 2016 the average wage in this industry was still 28.5 percent lower than the average monthly net wage of entrepreneurs in the country, which was 5,140 kuna that year.

The highest concentration of textile workers is in the Zagreb area, where 75 entrepreneurs were recorded, followed by the Primorje-Gorski Kotar County with 28 entrepreneurs, and Krapina-Zagorje County where 22 companies are engaged in textiles. The least number of entrepreneurs in this sector, one each, is based in the areas of Koprivnica-Križevci, Lika-Senj, and Požega-Slavonia counties.

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In Croatian Zagorje, according to Fina’s data, the highest total revenues of entrepreneurs in this industry are achieved, with Zagorje textile companies having 577 million kuna in revenue in 2016, which is 37 percent of the total revenues of the entire textile industry that year.

The top ten entrepreneurs in 2002 achieved a profit of about 31.4 million kuna, while in 2016 the ten highest-ranked entrepreneurs achieved a profit of 58.5 million kuna.

The highest profit in the textile industry in 2016, of nearly 8.6 million kuna, was achieved by Meditex from Zabok. In second and third place are Automont Belina from Krapinske Toplice with a profit of 8.3 million kuna and Varaždin’s Vis Pomotex with 7.2 million kuna.