HNB: In 2024, a surplus on the current and capital account of 172 million euros

Croatia achieved a cumulative surplus on the current and capital account of the balance of payments amounting to 172 million euros in 2024, which represents a significant deterioration compared to the previous year when the surplus was 2.5 billion euros, according to data from the HNB published on Monday.

According to HNB data, in the fourth quarter of 2024, a deficit of 1.21 billion euros was recorded on the current and capital account of the balance of payments, indicating a deterioration of the balance by 0.77 billion euros compared to the same quarter of the previous year.

This was primarily contributed to by the goods sub-account, whose negative balance increased by 406 million euros, and the capital account, whose positive balance decreased by 256 million euros, mainly due to lower amounts of EU fund allocations with characteristics of capital transfers to end users. The positive balance on the services sub-account decreased by 78.7 million euros compared to the same quarter last year, while the primary income sub-account increased by 196.6 million euros, and the secondary income sub-account decreased by 231.6 million euros, according to analysts from the central bank.

The balance on the financial account of the balance of payments, which refers to the difference between total acquired assets and total liabilities, was also in deficit in the fourth quarter of last year, amounting to 1.48 billion euros, compared to a deficit of 0.11 billion euros in the same quarter of the previous year.

– This is primarily the result of an increase in the negative balance on the other investments sub-account, which had a deficit of 1.03 billion euros, while the increase in the negative balance on the direct investments sub-account amounted to 373.1 million euros, said the HNB.

Considering the entire year of 2024, the cumulative surplus on the current and capital account amounted to 171.6 million euros or 0.2 percent of GDP, compared to 2.54 billion euros, or three percent of GDP in 2023. In 2024, a positive cumulative surplus on the financial account of 773.3 million euros or 0.9 percent of GDP was also visible, compared to 3.81 billion euros or 4.5 percent of GDP, which it amounted to in 2023.

Meanwhile, the deficit on the current account of the balance of payments last year amounted to 1.06 billion euros, compared to a surplus of 321 million euros in the previous year.

Data from the HNB tables show that the goods sub-account had a deficit of 18.1 billion euros last year, which was 600 million euros higher than in 2023. On the services sub-account, however, the surplus amounted to 15 billion euros, which is about 840 million euros less than the previous year. The movements on the services sub-account are primarily influenced by income from foreign tourists, which amounted to 14.99 billion euros, representing an increase of 2.7 percent or about 390 million euros compared to 2023.

The positive balance of the capital account decreased by almost one billion euros last year, from 2.22 billion to 1.23 billion euros, according to HNB data.