“Despite good business results in 2022 and optimistic business plans, companies are being cautious in anticipation of possible negative impacts on business. The main limiting factors in business operations are inflation and the rising costs of energy, as well as the lack of an adequate workforce”, said Andrea Doko Jelušić, Executive Director of AmCham, when presenting the results of the Survey of the Business Environment in Croatia conducted from 12 December 2022 to 25 January 2023, on a sample of 162 board members of domestic and international companies in Croatia.

Doko Jelušić added that for more than 67% of respondents, business operations in 2022 were better than in the previous year, while for 13%, business operations in 2022 were worse than in 2021. If we don’t count 2020, which was mostly marked by the pandemic, in 2022, the number of companies which recorded a deterioration in business increased. Most respondents (51%) recorded an increase in the number of employees, while a third of companies kept the same number of employees, which is in line with last year’s results. A significant number of respondents (59%) rate the experience of doing business in Croatia as good or very good, and 53% of respondents note an improvement in business conditions in the last five years.

The respondents saw financing conditions, increased demand for goods and services, and trade opportunities as the biggest improvements in the past five years, while they linked the biggest deterioration in business conditions with the availability and the quality of the workforce, the price of labor and the quality of the legal framework.

“73% of respondents plan to expand their business, compared to 82% in last year’s survey. In terms of planned employment, the percentage is identical to last year – 66%; however, the share of those who plan to hire more than 20 employees is decreasing, whereas the share of those who plan to reduce the number of employees is increasing”, said Doko Jelušić.

“Compared to the previous year (2021), in 2022, AmCham’s members recorded similar business results. There is a slight increase in employment and satisfaction with business conditions compared to the previous five-year period. On the other hand, the share of respondents who record better business results is decreasing. Inflation and rising energy costs were not at all in the focus of businesses in 2021, but in this year’s survey, they took center stage as the main limiting factors in business. The lack of an adequate workforce, which in the previous year was in first place, has now taken third place”, said John Mathias Gašparac, first vice-president of the AmCham Board of Governors.

Respondents’ attitudes towards joining the Schengen area and the introduction of the euro are positive.

The survey covered the following areas: business activities in 2022, the business environment, the impact of institutions on the business environment, comparison with the region, business expectations, and attitudes towards Schengen, introduction of the euro and EU funds.