The pandemic has accelerated Croatia's digital transformation and the situation in the economy in 2021 improved in that regard, with an average score of 2.59, a mild increase compared to 2020, when the average score was 2.52, the latest survey of the Croatian Digital Index (HDI) indicates.

This is the third year in a row that the survey has been conducted by the local Apsolon consulting company, which says that the HDI index gauges Croatia’s digital transformation progress.

“The Croatian Digital Index (HDI) has once again this year shown that Croatian companies are recognising the importance of digital transformation more and more. However, the overall score is still unsatisfactory despite the positive trend, and the growth rate is slow and there is significant room for progress in the years to come,” Aposolon said, adding that the survey included 273 Croatian companies, 56 of which were large and 217 were medium-sized companies.

The HDI analyses the preparedness of Croatia’s economy to face the challenges in light of exceptionally fast growth and development of new digital technology, which significantly changes traditional business organisation. The survey is aimed at preparing proposals, recommendations and guidelines to expand digital capacities in Croatian companies and the economy overall.

Better score for availability of e-services

The survey showed a somewhat better than average score of 2.78 related to the availability of e-services, which also improved slightly from the score of 2.73 in 2020.

The survey further showed that 24.2% of companies have developed a digital transformation strategy while in 2020 only 17.7% did. The majority of companies said that digital transformation did not affect the number of people employed in their companies.

Half of them expect digital transformation to have a positive effect on their revenue. However, only 3.7% consider it to be their main priority while 31.5% consider it to be one of their three main priorities.

More than 75% of respondents said that they do not have a structured path toward digitisation, 62% allocate less than 25% for staff training and development of digital skills while 51% use outsourcing.

The government and companies need to do more

The survey further showed that 92.3% of companies view digital transformation as an opportunity for their own development. However, Apsolon believes that Croatia needs to achieve better results in this area in order to improve its competitiveness and for it not to lag behind other EU member states.

Croatia has never achieved an above-average result for the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) conducted by the European Commission.

In 2021 Croatia ranked 19th of the 27 EU member states with regard to the DESI index, moving up one place from 2020.

Apsolon believes the government needs to set the foundations for Croatia’s digital future which will then positively impact business and facilitate more efficient communication with the government for citizens and companies.