CROATIA: Retail Market Grows Strongly

CROATIA: Retail Market Grows Strongly The Croatian retail market continues to boom, with growth in new retail stores and sales, according to the Croatian Statistics Bureau (DZS). In the year to June 2007, a total of 5,303 new retail outlets were opened in the country, creating around 28,000 jobs.

Retail sales for the January-June 2007 period rose 17% to 126.4bn kuna (E17.3bn), up from 108bn kuna (E14.8bn) last year. In the same period, consumers spent an average of 1.1bn kuna (E150.6m) per month more on goods purchased in retail outlets.