That dollar amount reflects a 30.4% increase from $21.8 billion five years earlier in 2021.
Year over year, Croatia’s global export sales gained 9.2% compared to $26.1 billion during 2024.
The top 5 most valuable Croatian exports are processed petroleum oils, medication mixes in dosage, electrical converters or power units, electrical energy and insulated wire or cable. Combined, that quintet of major exports amounted to 18.4% of overall Croatian sales of exported products.
Based on the average exchange rate for 2025, Croatia uses the euro which strengthened via a 4.4% gain against the US dollar from 2024 to 2025. The stronger European Union currency made Croatian exports paid for in weaker US dollars modestly more expensive for international buyers starting with EU currency.
Croatia’s Main Trade Partners
The latest available country-specific data shows that 74.6% of products exported from Croatia was bought by importers in: Germany (12.6% of the Croatian total), Slovenia (11.8%), Italy (11.6%), Bosnia and Herzegovina (10.8%), Serbia (6.3%), Austria (5%), Hungary (4.6%), United States of America (2.8%), Slovakia (2.6%), France (2.5%), Poland (2.2%) and Netherlands (1.9%).
From a continental perspective, 90.8% of Croatia’s exports by value was delivered to fellow European countries while 4.5% was sold to importers in Asia.
Croatia shipped another 3.4% worth of goods to customers in North America.
Tinier percentages went to buyers in Africa (0.9%), Latin America (0.16%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, then Oceania (0.19%) led by Australia, Marshall Islands and New Zealand.
Croatia joined the European Union on July 1, 2013. Fellow EU members bought 66.3% of all spending on Croatian exports in 2025, up from 65.3% for the prior year.
Given Croatia’s population of 3.9 million people, its total US$28.5 billion worth of exported goods in 2025 translates to roughly $7,400 for every resident in the European nation. That dollar metric exceeds the average $6,800 per capita one year earlier during 2024.
Croatia’s Top 10 Exports
The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Croatian global shipments during 2025. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Croatia.
- Mineral fuels including oil: US$3.5 billion (12.4% of total exports)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: $3.1 billion (10.8%)
- Machinery including computers: $2 billion (7.2%)
- Wood: $1.37 billion (4.8%)
- Pharmaceuticals: $1.36 billion (4.8%)
- Vehicles: $1.2 billion (4.1%)
- Knit or crochet clothing, accessories: $873 million (3.1%)
- Aluminum: $848.8 million (3%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: $842.6 million (3%)
- Articles of iron or steel: $760.2 million (2.7%)
Croatia’s top 10 exports accounted for 55.8% of the overall value of Croatian shipments.
Electrical machinery and equipment represent the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 19.9% from 2024 to 2025.
In second place for improving export sales was wood via a 10.8% advance.
Croatia’s shipments of plastics, including both materials and articles made from plastic, posted the third-fastest gain in value, up by 10.2%.
The most modest gainer among Croatia’s top 10 export categories was knitted or crocheted clothing and accessories, thanks to a 1.1% year-over-year upturn.
At the more granular four-digit Harmonized Tariff System code level, Croatia’s most valuable exported product in 2025 was processed petroleum oils (6.1% of total Croatian exports). That category was trailed by medication mixes in dosage (3.8%), electrical converters or power units (also 3.8%), electrical energy (2.7%), insulated wire or cable (2.1%), sawn wood (2%), crude oil (1.9%), chocolate and other cocoa preparations (1.6%), cars (1.5%), then automobile parts or accessories (also 1.5%).
Products Generating Croatia’s Greatest Trade Surpluses
The following types of Croatian product shipments represent positive net exports or a trade balance surplus. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports.
In a nutshell, net exports reflect the amount by which foreign spending on a home country’s goods or services exceeds or lags the home country’s spending on foreign goods or services.
- Wood: US$722.4 million (Up by 6.2% since 2024)
- Cereals: $296.5 million (Up by 9.7%)
- Railways, streetcars: $224.4 million (Up by 23.9%)
- Salt, sulphur, stone, cement: $190 million (Up by 0.8%)
- Arms, ammunition: $114.2 million (Up by 88.9%)
- Oil seeds: $102 million (Down by -13.9%)
- Woodpulp: $29.8 million (Up by 60.7%)
- Fish: $18.1 million (Up by 87.1%)
- Lead: $14.8 million (Up by 0.4%)
- Books, newspapers, pictures: $11 million (Up by 16.6%)
Croatia has highly positive net exports in the international trade of lumber. In turn, these cashflows indicate Croatia’s strong competitive advantages under the wood product category.
Products Creating Croatia’s Largest Trade Deficits
Croatia incurred an overall -US$22.7 billion trade deficit during 2025, expanding by 17.1% from -$19.4 billion in red ink one year earlier in 2024.
Below are exports from Croatia that result in negative net exports or product trade balance deficits. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on home country Croatia’s goods trail Croatian importer spending on foreign products.
- Mineral fuels including oil: -US$3.5 billion (Down by -3.2% since 2024)
- Vehicles: -$3.1 billion (Up by 16.9%)
- Machinery including computers: -$2.2 billion (Up by 15.5%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: -$1 billion (Up by 10.5%)
- Pharmaceuticals: -$913 million (Up by 26.8%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: -$908.3 million (Up by 1.3%)
- Optical, technical, medical apparatus: -$752.1 million (Up by 26.1%)
- Meat: -$739.9 million (Up by 8.8%)
- Iron, steel: -$666.7 million (Up by 16.5%)
- Clothing, accessories (not knit or crochet): -$526.8 million (Up by 26.1%)
Historically, Croatia generates negative net exports and therefore deep international trade deficits for petroleum gases, refined petroleum oil, crude oil, electrical energy, and coal under the mineral fuels-related product category.
These cashflow deficiencies clearly indicate Croatia’s competitive disadvantages in the international fossil fuel market, but also represent key opportunities for Croatia to improve its position in the global economy through focused innovations particularly in alternative energy sources.
Croatian Export Companies
Not one of Croatia’s corporations rank among Forbes Global 2000.
Wikipedia does list exporters from Croatia. Selected examples are shown below.
- Efke (photographic papers, chemicals)
- Koestlin (biscuits, other confectionery products)
- Podravka (food)
- Rimac Automobili (electric vehicles)
- Vindija (dairy products)
- Viro (refined sugar)
In macroeconomic terms, Croatia’s total exported goods represent 14.4% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2025 ($198.3 billion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 14.4% for exports to overall GDP in PPP for 2025 compares to 13.9% for 2024. Those percentages suggest a relatively decreasing reliance on products sold on international markets for Croatia’s total economic performance, albeit based on a short timeframe.
Another key indicator of a country’s economic performance is its unemployment rate. Croatia’s unemployment rate averaged 5.298% for 2025, down from an average 5.457% in 2024 according to International Monetary Fund statistics.
Zagreb is the capital city of the Republic of Croatia.
See also Slovenia’s Top 10 Exports, Italy’s Top Trading Partners, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Top 10 Exports, Germany’s Top 10 Exports and United Kingdom’s Top 10 Exports
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Europe: Croatia. Accessed on May 8, 2026
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on May 8, 2026
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on May 8, 2026
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on May 8, 2026
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on May 8, 2026
Wikipedia, Croatia. Accessed on May 8, 2026
Wikipedia, Gross domestic product. Accessed on May 8, 2026
Wikipedia, List of Companies of Croatia. Accessed on May 8, 2026
Wikipedia, Purchasing power parity. Accessed on May 8, 2026
X-rates.com, Exchange Rates: Euro to US Dollar (monthly average 2025)