Croatie
Since joining the EU in 2013, Croatia’s macroeconomic performance has improved significantly. At the same time, large demographic and socio-economic disparities across Croatian regions persist. These trends provide the backdrop against which Croatia has reformed its legislative and strategic planning framework for regional development. Such reforms culminated in the adoption of the National Development Strategy 2030, which includes balanced regional development among its main long-term objectives. They have also led to the creation of regional development agencies, and the design of development plans at the county and local levels.
This report assesses the extent to which Croatia’s multi-level governance system is supporting its regional development objectives. In particular, it provides an overview of the country’s regional development performance on several demographic, economic and well-being indicators. From there, it considers how the regional development reforms adopted since 2014 affect the ability of national and subnational governments to design, implement, fund, monitor and evaluate place-based regional development plans. Finally, this report provides practical recommendations to help national and subnational policy makers develop and implement strategic frameworks to meet their territorial development objectives and deliver tangible results to communities across the country.
Croatia’s strategic position along the Adriatic Sea has historically positioned it as a key player in the global shipbuilding industry. Despite a significant decline in ship production by 75% in CGT following the sector’s privatisation in 2013, in time with its accession to the EU, the industry remains significant to the country’s economy. Shipbuilding in Croatia has notably shifted towards high-quality niche markets, with a special focus on constructing yachts and polar cruise ships and growing demand for environmentally friendly vessels, including electrically powered and alternative fuel-capable vessels. Employment in Croatian shipyards has significantly decreased since privatisation and challenges in attracting and retaining skilled labour persist. The maritime sector's shift towards net-zero emissions, coupled with collaborative projects within the EU, presents opportunities for technological progress and an increased orderbook.
Ovaj profil daje sažet i usmjeren pregled stanja zdravstvenog sustava u Hrvatskoj, kao dio šire serije Zdravstvenih profila zemalja iz projekta Stanje zdravlja u EU. Predstavlja sažetu analizu koja obuhvaća sljedeće ključne aspekte: zdravstveno stanje stanovništva u Hrvatskoj; odrednice zdravlja, s naglaskom na čimbenike rizika u ponašanju; organizacija hrvatskog zdravstvenog sustava; te procjena njegove učinkovitosti, pristupačnosti i otpornosti. Štoviše, izdanje za 2023. godinu predstavlja tematski dio o stanju mentalnog zdravlja i službi za mentalno zdravlje u Hrvatskoj.
Ovaj profil je zajednički napor OECD-a i Europskog opservatorija za zdravstveni sustav i politiku, koji se provodi u suradnji s Europskom komisijom.
La Croatie a bien géré la crise du COVID-19 et les chocs sur les prix qui ont découlé de la guerre d’agression menée par la Russie contre l’Ukraine. En dépit de la montée en flèche de l’inflation, le pays a enregistré une forte croissance de la production, une hausse de l’emploi et une amélioration du bien-être. Son intégration dans la zone euro et l’espace Schengen au début de 2023 témoigne des progrès accomplis et donne un coup de pouce supplémentaire à l’économie. La mise en œuvre d’une politique budgétaire contracyclique et l’octroi de prêts en faveur d’investissements productifs peuvent aider à maîtriser les tensions inflationnistes et à étayer la croissance. La Croatie doit poursuivre les réformes et les investissements ambitieux qu’elle a entrepris pour favoriser la convergence des revenus vers les niveaux de l’OCDE tout en se préparant à faire face au changement climatique. Alléger les contraintes réglementaires, rendre le système judiciaire plus réactif, parer aux risques de corruption et améliorer les résultats des entreprises publiques sont autant de mesures qui contribueraient à dynamiser l’environnement des entreprises en renforçant la croissance des entreprises à plus forte productivité. Par ailleurs, les pouvoirs publics pourraient mettre l’accent sur le renforcement des compétences des adultes, car cela permettrait aux employeurs de pourvoir des postes très qualifiés et favoriserait l’augmentation des revenus. Il est en outre possible de réduire les risques de pauvreté, d’accroître la productivité et d’aider le pays à s’adapter au vieillissement de sa population en renforçant la participation des jeunes adultes à la vie active, en encourageant les seniors à travailler jusqu’à l’âge de la retraite au taux plein, et en attirant les compétences nécessaires via l’immigration.
CHAPITRES THÉMATIQUES : AMÉLIORER L’ENVIRONNEMENT DES ENTREPRISES ; AMÉLIORER LA SITUATION DU MARCHÉ DU TRAVAIL
This profile provides a concise and policy-focused overview of the state of health and the healthcare system in Croatia, as a part of the broader series of Country Health Profiles from the State of Health in the EU initiative. It presents a succinct analysis encompassing the following key aspects: the current health status in Croatia; the determinants of health, focusing on behavioural risk factors; the organisation of the Croatian healthcare system; and an evaluation of the health system's effectiveness, accessibility, and resilience. Moreover, the 2023 edition presents a thematic section on the state of mental health and associated services in Croatia.
This profile is the collaborative effort of the OECD and the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, carried out in cooperation with the European Commission.
The FDI Qualities Review of Croatia provides policy recommendations on the design and implementation of a new strategic framework for investment promotion and facilitation in Croatia. It provides an assessment of how foreign direct investment (FDI) contributes to sustainable development, including productivity and innovation, job quality and skills development, decarbonisation and regional development. It also examines the institutional and policy framework for investment promotion and facilitation at national and subnational levels. It gives an overview of Croatia’s investment incentives regime, focusing on the effective design and implementation of tax incentives. The report indicates potential areas for institutional and policy reform to improve Croatia’s investment climate and strengthen the economic, social and environmental benefits of FDI.
Croatia has navigated well the COVID-19 crisis and the price shocks following Russia’s war of aggression on Ukraine. It has achieved robust output growth, rising employment and improving well-being, although inflation has surged. Integration into the euro- and Schengen areas at the start of 2023 are testament to progress, and are providing a further fillip to the economy. Ensuring that fiscal policy is counter-cyclical and that lending supports productive investments can help contain inflationary pressures and sustain growth. Croatia’s ongoing and ambitious reforms and investments must continue for incomes to converge with OECD levels while also preparing for climate change. Reducing regulatory burdens, more responsive judicial processes, addressing corruption risks and improving the performance of state-owned enterprises can foster a more dynamic business environment with stronger growth by higher productivity firms. A big push to strengthen adults’ skills would ensure that employers can fill high-skilled positions and support rising incomes. Better engaging younger adults in work, encouraging older adults to work until the full retirement age, and attracting needed skills through immigration would reduce poverty risks, raise productivity and help Croatia adapt to an ageing population.
SPECIAL FEATURES: IMPROVING THE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT; A BETTER PERFORMING LABOUR MARKET
The demand for help with daily activities – so-called long-term care – is set to increase in Croatia. The population is ageing at a faster rate than the EU average, and by 2050, about one-third of the population is projected to be aged 65 years and over. In addition, with one of the highest poverty rates among older people in EU countries, at 30%, most older people cannot afford long-term care without public support. However, the long-term care system is both fragmented, with multiple benefits and services across different providers, and underfunded with public expenditure among the lowest across EU countries. As a result, long-term care remains unaffordable for most people even after receiving public support, leading to gaps in access, inequities, and a strong reliance on relatives to provide the bulk of long-term care. This report suggests avenues to improve access and equity of long-term care and proposes policy recommendations to enhance the support for family carers.
This paper investigates the demand for language skills using data on online job vacancies in 27 European Union member countries and the United Kingdom in 2021. Evidence indicates that although Europe remains a linguistically diverse labour market, knowing English confers unique advantages in certain occupations. Across countries included in the analyses, a knowledge of English was explicitly required in 22% of all vacancies and English was the sixth most required skill overall. A knowledge of German, Spanish, French and Mandarin Chinese was explicitly demanded in between 1% and 2% of all vacancies. One in two positions advertised on line for managers or professionals required some knowledge of English, on average across European Union member countries and across OECD countries in the sample. This compares with only one in ten positions for skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery workers and among elementary occupations.
The Croatian government views digitalisation as a way to improve access to higher education and increase its attractiveness. To this end, it is investing in modernising digital infrastructure and building capacity to effectively integrate digital technologies into the higher education sector. This report provides an account of the activities and findings of a project on assessing and improving digital maturity in Croatian higher education institutions, which was carried out by the OECD and funded by the European Union. The objective of the project was to provide support and advice to Croatian authorities as they develop their policy approach to higher education digitalisation.
This report details the activities and outcomes of the project. It reviews international best practices related to enhancing the quality of digital higher education. It also provides technical guidance to public authorities on prioritising investments in various forms of digital infrastructure. Finally, it offers guidance to Croatian higher education institutions to support their strategic development process and their investment strategies with regard to digitalisation.
Na temelju pregleda trendova i stanja zdravstvene skrbi u području raka po zemljama utvrđuju se prednosti, nedostaci i konkretna područja djelovanja za svaku od 27 država članica EU-a te Island i Norvešku kako bi se usmjerila ulaganja i intervencije na razini EU-a, država i regija u okviru europskog plana za borbu protiv raka. Svaki profil raka u zemlji pruža kratku sintezu: nacionalnog opterećenja rakom ; čimbenika rizika za rak (s fokusom na čimbenike rizika u ponašanju i okolišu) ;programa ranog otkrivanja ; učinkovitosti skrbi za rak (s fokusom na dostupnost, kvalitetu skrbi, troškove i utjecaj COVID-19 na liječenje raka).
This profile identifies strengths, challenges and specific areas of action on cancer prevention and care in Croatia as part of the European Cancer Inequalities Registry, a flagship initiative of Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan. It provides a short synthesis of: the national cancer burden; risk factors for cancer (focusing on behavioural and environmental risk factors); early detection programmes; and cancer care performance (focusing on accessibility, care quality, costs and the impact of COVID-19 on cancer care).
High levels of corruption and lack of transparency are key constraints to economic growth in many countries worldwide. This Country Profile for Croatia aims to map existing legal and institutional frameworks in the policy areas of anti-corruption, competition, and state-owned enterprises to identify policy challenges to a level playing eld. It also provides actionable policy recommendations which draw on a broad set of OECD analysis, guidelines, legal instruments and good practices as well as on additional data collected for the report. This Country Pro le, along those for Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia, is one output of the three year OECD project to promote fair market conditions for competitiveness in the Adriatic region, which is supported by the Siemens Integrity Initiative. Through Collective Action, government officials from the region as well as business leaders, anti-corruption experts and practitioners, civil society representatives and academics have engaged to jointly enhance integrity and transparency. These efforts are part of the engagement of the OECD South East Europe Regional Programme, which collaborates with the region since 2000 to advance private sector development, improve the investment climate and raise living standards for an inclusive and sustainable future for the people of South East Europe.
The paper is the second in a series of two papers mapping young people’s environmental sustainability competence in EU and OECD countries that were prepared as background for the forthcoming OECD Skills Outlook 2023 publication. The papers are the results of a collaboration between the OECD Centre for Skills and the European Commission - Joint Research Centre (Unit B4) on students’ environmental sustainability competence. The first paper is titled ‘Young people’s environmental sustainability competence: Emotional, cognitive, behavioural and attitudinal dimensions in EU and OECD countries.
The paper is the first in a series of two papers mapping young people’s environmental sustainability competence in EU and OECD countries that were prepared as background for the forthcoming OECD Skills Outlook 2023 publication. The papers are the results of a collaboration between the OECD Centre for Skills and the European Commission - Joint Research Centre (Unit B4) on students’ environmental sustainability competence. The second paper is titled: ‘The environmental sustainability competence toolbox: From leaving a better planet to our children to leaving better children for our planet’.