Belgians are the biggest foreign investors in 2010 in Croatia.

There has been a large fall in foreign direct investment in Croatia since 2009. The Croatian National Bank’s (HNB) preliminary report on foreign direct investments in Croatia in 2010 totalled EUR 439.9m, versus EUR 2.09bn in 2009. This is testament to the problems that have plagued the rest of Europe since the financial crisis began, although Croatia felt the purge some 18 to 24 months later.

The largest inflows of capital came from “other business activities” and totalled EUR 249.3m, with financial with EUR 186.6m, and Croatia property investments with EUR 166.6m. FDI outflow were seen in the chemical sector (EUR 485m) and telecommunications (EUR 132.2m). The largest amount of investment came from Belgium, EUR 116.3m, followed by Italy with EUR 112.8m, Luxembourg with EUR 111.6m and Slovenia with EUR 86.6m etc.

This is in stark contrast to several years previously when Austria was leading the way, followed by Netherlands and Germany. This is evident when one looks at the total FDI Croatia has received since 1993 with Austria out in front with EUR 6.22bn, followed by the Netherlands with EUR 3.7bn, Germany with EUR 2.9bn and Hungary with EUR 2.3bn. The total amount of FDI Croatia has received since 1993 is EUR 24.47bn.

In relation to Croatia property investment, this reflects our experience of the last 12 to 18 months. A large number of recent Croatian real estate transactions have been with clients from Belgium with budgets of around EUR 300,000 on average. Proximity to Croatia combined with the bad weather in Belgium has made Croatia a popular choice for Belgians to invest in Croatian properties.