ZAGREB, 1 April (Hina) - Croatia recorded a cumulative surplus of €172 million in its current and capital account balance in 2024, marking a significant decline compared to the previous year's surplus of €2.5 billion, according to data released by the Croatian National Bank (HNB) on Monday.

The HNB data reveals that in the fourth quarter of 2024, the current and capital account posted a deficit of €1.21 billion, deteriorating by €770 million compared to the same period in 2023.

The primary contributors to this decline were the goods subaccount, where the negative balance increased by €406 million, and the capital account, whose surplus shrank by €256 million, mainly due to lower allocations of EU funds classified as capital transfers to end beneficiaries. The surplus in the services subaccount fell by €78.7 million year-on-year, while the primary income subaccount improved by €196.6 million.

However, the secondary income subaccount saw a reduction of €231.6 million, HNB analysts reported.

Meanwhile, the financial account balance - which reflects the difference between total acquired assets and total assumed liabilities - registered a deficit of €1.48 billion in Q4 2024, compared to a €110 million deficit in the same quarter of 2023.

"This was primarily due to an increase in the negative balance of the other investments subaccount, which recorded a deficit of €1.03 billion, while the negative balance of the direct investment subaccount rose by €373.1 million," the HNB stated.

For the full year 2024, the cumulative surplus in the current and capital account amounted to €171.6 million, or 0.2% of GDP - down from €2.54 billion (3% of GDP) in 2023. The financial account balance posted a cumulative surplus of €773.3 million (0.9% of GDP), compared to €3.81 billion (4.5% of GDP) in the previous year.

The current account alone recorded a deficit of €1.06 billion in 2024, reversing from a surplus of €321 million in 2023.

The HNB data also shows that the goods subaccount deficit widened to €18.1 billion in 2024 - €600 million more than in 2023. Meanwhile, the surplus in the services subaccount totalled €15 billion, about €840 million less than the year before. This was largely influenced by revenue from foreign tourism, which reached €14.99 billion - up 2.7% (or roughly €390 million) compared to 2023.

The capital account surplus also declined by nearly €1 billion, falling from €2.22 billion in 2023 to €1.23 billion in 2024, according to the HNB data.