Croatia Falling Behind in EU, Statistics Show

New data from the EU statistics agency, Eurostat, show that Croatia is falling behind the rest of the EU by almost all economic indices - while the outlook for 2015 is no better.

Croatia's unemployment rate of 16.6 per cent in October falls way behind the EU average of 10 per cent, for example.

Balkan neighbours Bulgaria, with 11.1 per cent, and Romania with 6.5 per cent unemployed, are doing far better.

The ex-Yugoslav republic of Slovenia, on 9.6 per cent, and Hungary, with 7.4 per cent, are also in a better situation in this sector.

When it comes to youth unemployment - under the age of 25 - Croatia is in the top three worst in the EU, behind only Greece and Spain. The youth joblessness rate in Croatia is 45.5 per cent rate, well above the EU average of 21.8 per cent.

In Bulgaria, 21.4 per cent of under-25-year-olds are unemployed, while in Romania the figure is 23.3 per cent. In Slovenia, it is 20.4 per cent, and in Hungary, 19.8 per cent.

GDP has fallen in Croatia for more than three years in a row, with a 0.9 per cent decline last year compared with 2013.

However, neighbouring Slovenia is posting even worse figures in this field, with a decline of 1 per cent over the year.

Hungary posted a real GDP growth rate of 1.5 per cent. Bulgaria saw a small rise of 1.1 per cent over the same period, while Romania posted a more impressive rise of 3.4 per cent, the second highest in the EU, behind Latvia.

Forecasts for 2015 suggest Croatia will see no positive GDP growth in 2015. For Bulgaria, Eurostat predicts positive GDP growth of up to 0.9 per cent.

Slovenia is expected to grow by between 1 and 1.9 per cent in 2015, while Hungary and Romania will make a bigger strides forward, with growth of 2 to 2.9 per...