Istria County

undefinedCapital: Pazin

The largest city: Pula

Area: 2,820 km2

Population: 208,440

Demographic profile:
Average age –  40.2 years
Gender – 48.45% male; 51.55% female

Administrations: 10 towns, 31 municipalies

Economy

GDP percapita: 12.810 EUR

Unemployment rate: 7.3%

Averagegrosssalary (monthly): 1005 EUR

Export and import data:

Exports: 647,193,000 EUR (4,695,864,000 HRK) – 10.05% of the overall Croatian exports;

Imports: 580,305,000 EUR (4,211,375,000 HRK) – 5.21% of the overall Croatian imports; Balance: 66,888,000 EUR (484,489,000 HRK); export to import ratio adds up to 111.50% (for the period Jan – Sept 2010)

Key sectors:

  • Processing industry
  • Trade
  • Tourism
  • Construction
  • Maritime fishing and mariculture
  • Agriculture
  • Transport

Traditionally, Istria has been the most visited region in Croatia, and, industrially one of the most developed ones. Shipbuilding, production of construction material, tobacco products, electrical machinery and devices, automotive components, glass manufacturing, metal processing, plastics, wood, textile and food are the most important economic sectors.

Investments in the economy in the recent years

Investments of the companies in long term property:

  • 2008 – 4,538,800,000 HRK; 621,753,424 EUR; 856,377,358 USD or 6.21% of the total investments in the Republic of Croatia
  • 2007 – 4,160,446,000 HRK; 569,924,109 EUR; 784,989,811 USD or 6.15% of the total investments in the Republic of Croatia
  • 2006 – 5,108,230,000 HRK; 699,757,534 EUR; 963,816,981 USD or 8.22% of the total investments in the Republic of Croatia
  • 2005 – 3,769,824,000 HRK; 516,414,246 EUR; 711,287,547 USD or 7.14 % % of the total investments in Croatia
  • 2004 – 2,531,000,000 HRK; 346,712,328 EUR; 477,547,169 USD  or 5.07 % of the total investments in Croatia

Key foreign investors: Benetton, RWE, Calucem, Holcim, Cimos, Kempinski, Hempel, AGIP, Luxottica, Holding Pizzolo, Biasuzzi, Horstmann, Europagroup, Heidelberg Zement, Bouygues, Metro and Lukšić Group.

Manufacturing sector

Key sectors: shipbuilding, production of machinery and equipment, construction material (lime, cement, bricks, stones, ceramics), metal constructions and tools, tobacco/manufacturing of cigarettes, production of cardboard and paper, wood processing industry, glass production, plastic products, textile, chemical and food industry.

Employment:  35% of the total working population in the County is employed in the manufacturing sector.

The most significant companies:

  • Uljanik Brodogradilište d.d., Pula (shipbuilding)
  • Rockwool Adriatic d.o.o., Potpićan (rock wool production)
  • Hempel d.o.o., Umag (paint solutions)
  • Istra Cement d.d., Pula (construction material)
  • TDR d.o.o., Rovinj (tobacco and cigarettes manufacturing)

Services sector

Key sectors: tourism and hospitality, trade, real estate, business services, transport, warehousing and connection

Employment: 48% of the total working population in the County

The most significant companies:

  • Valalta d.o.o., Rovinj
  • Arenaturist d.d., Pula
  • Maistra d.d., Rovinj
  • Riviera Poreč d.d., Poreč
  • Plava Laguna d.d., Poreč
  • Istraturist Umag d.d., Umag
  • Puljanka d.d., Pula
  • Eurotrade d.o.o., Rovinj
  • Etradex d.o.o., Pićan

New Economy

ICT: Small companies dominate the Istrian business environment. Some of these companies are leaders in providing ICT solutions especially for hotels and hospitals software. The majority of the existing companies engage in providing software and computer equipment and their maintenance. 

When talking about plans for the future, the largest part of the companies (an estimated 80%) are planning to increase the scope of their business. This increase will focus largely on the local markets. 70% of the companies in this sector show an average annual growth rate higher than 10%. None of the companies in the ICT sector is planning to reduce scope of business nor expect a drop in investments or employment.

The financial indicators for this sector are positive. The increase of the total revenues has increased by 55% in the period 2003 – 2006. In the same period the number of companies increased by 32% and impacted positively on the employment rate.

Institutions supporting research and development in the County:

  • Istria Development Agency (IDA) d.o.o. – is one of the leading regional development agencies in Croatia. It was among the first development agencies in Croatia, established in 1999 as the operative body for the implementation of development programmes of Istria County.
  • METRIS – Research Centre for Metal Industry in Istria County
  • Institute for Agriculture and Tourism – Poreč
  • Marine Research Centre “Ruđer Bošković” –  Rovinj

Business infrastructure

Business zones: List of business zones

Business incubator: Business incubator “Challenge”

Traffic infrastructure

Roads: the total length of roads in Istria is 1,812km. The road traffic is significantly improved by the construction of Istria Y, totalling 141 km. The Istria Y includes the B9 route which connects Umag to Pula and the B8 route, from Matulji (5 km north from Opatija and Kanfanar (10 km north from Pula).

Maritime traffic: Five Port Authorities (Pula, Rovinj, Poreč, Umag-Novigrad and Rabac) founded by the Istria County manage the County ports of county and local importance (26 of them in total); the Port Bršica which is situated on the territory of Istria County is managed by Rijeka Port Authority, which is founded by the Republic of Croatia.

Air traffic: Airport in Pula is used for national and international transport of passengers and goods and although it currently meets the County needs, its expansion is planned in the near future. There is another smaller airport in the County, in Vrsar, which is used for tourist traffic of small airplanes, sports and panoramic flights as well as a few sports airfields and runways: the best one being in Medulin (Campanož), Karigador and Buzet – also used for paragliding.

Railway traffic: The 152.5 km long railways managed by the state-owned company, Croatian Railways, including the 2.7 km railway tracks for industrial purposes, are “cut” from the rest of Croatian railways (there is a connection via Slovene railways).

Overview of distances from Pazin (administrative centre of Istria County) and larger cities in the region.

Education

Educational qualification structure:

  • University “Juraj Dobrila” in Pula – Faculty of Humanities, Faculty of Economics and Tourism "Dr. Mijo Mirković", Teacher Training Department
  • Polytechnics in Pula – Polytechnic studies
  • Polytechnics in Rijeka – Department for Agriculture, Winemaking studies – Poreč, Mediterranean Agriculture Studies – Poreč

Further information on the County:

Istria County
IDA Istria Development County
web4investors
Istria County - business zones