Croatian nautical ports generated €161 million (excluding VAT) in total revenue in 2023, which is an increase of 12.1% compared with 2022, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (DZS).

The data covered 224 nautical ports, including 85 marinas, 79 anchorages, 17 moorings and 43 boat storage facilities, covering a total water surface area of 4.8 million square metres.

The ports had a total of 19,131 berths, which is about 20 more than in 2022, and more than 10,000 of them were designed for vessels of 10-12 and 12-15 metres in length.

The nautical ports employed 2,042 people, or 24 more than in 2022. The number of seasonal workers increased by about 20 to 467.

All Adriatic counties record increases in revenue from nautical tourism

Of the total revenue of €161 million, €115 million, or 72%, was generated by berth rental, an increase of 14.6% compared with 2022.

All Adriatic counties saw increases in revenue from nautical tourism. The largest increase, of 19.6%, was reported by Dubrovnik-Neretva County, with a revenue of €9 million, followed by Zadar County with a 15.6% increase and a 31.4m revenue.

Šibenik-Knin County recorded the highest nautical revenue, of €39.6 million, which is an increase of 8.3% compared with 2022. It was followed by Split-Dalmatia County with a 38.7m revenue (+12.4%), Istria County with a €21.7m revenue (+14.1%), and Primorje-Gorski Kotar County with a €20.4m revenue (+8.7%).

Decline in the number of vessels in transit

Last year, the average berth occupancy rate was 66%, and the number of vessels in transit dropped by 4.3% to 224,400.

The majority of vessels in transit (nearly 50%) sailed under the Croatian flag, followed by those sailing under the flags of Germany, Italy, Austria and Slovenia.

By type of vessels in transit that used sea moorings, the majority were sailboats (nearly 60%), followed by motor yachts (32%) and other vessels. 37.4% of these vessels were between 12 and 15 metres long.

The majority of vessels in transit used sea moorings in Split-Dalmatia County (27% of the total) and Šibenik-Knin County (23%).