After three consecutive months of decline in Croatian exports, during which the decline in April and May compared to the same months last year was around 25 percent, preliminary data from the Croatian Bureau of Statistics indicate a visible recovery of exports in June. According to the first results of Croatia’s trade exchange with foreign countries, exports in June amounted to just over 1.2 billion euros, which is four percent higher than in the same month last year. This has mitigated the decline in exports in the first half of this year, which was 7.4 percent compared to the same period last year. We dare say that, given the circumstances, this is not a bad result at all. It should also be remembered that Croatian exports had decent growth in the first two months of this year, which also contributed to alleviating the consequences of the significant decline in April and May. It should also be noted that the overall decline in exports in the first half of this year would have been significantly greater had it not been for the high growth of oil exports to Hungary.
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In the first five months of this year, the ‘mining and extraction’ sector, which pertains to oil and gas, recorded an export growth of 668 percent. In other words, exports during this period were greater than 209 million euros, while in the first five months of last year, they were at 27 million euros. This, in turn, reflected a high growth (almost 80 percent) of Croatian exports to Hungary during this period, which contrasts with all other major Croatian export markets.
The largest decline in exports in the first five months was predictably to the Italian market, where Croatian exporters placed goods worth 655 million euros, or 26.6 percent less than in the same period last year. The decline in exports to Germany during this period was 12.6 percent, and to Slovenia one percentage point higher. The total decline in exports to the European Union markets in the first five months was 5.9 percent, and besides Hungary, growth was achieved in about ten other EU countries, including the United Kingdom (a solid 18.4 percent!), which statistically still belongs to the Union.
The manufacturing industry in the first five months achieved an export result about 700 million euros weaker than last year during the same period, with the clothing production sector suffering the most, as its export value fell by around one hundred million euros.
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