Foreign Direct Investments

Published: 1/2/2015 Modified: 10/10/2016

Foreign direct investments are a component part of the balance of payments, and include equity capital, reinvested earnings and debt relations between ownership-related residents and non-residents. Direct investments are investments whereby a foreign owner acquires a minimum of 10% interest in equity capital of a company. The tables show direct investments by years and components, by the country of investor/investment and by resident activity.

Methodology - Foreign Direct Investments

Published: 19/1/2016

Table U1 Direct investments, net acquisition of financial assets
Table U2 Direct investments, net acquisition of financial assets (by country) 
Table U3 Direct investments, net acquisition of financial assets (by resident activity)
Table U4 Direct investments, net incurrence of liabilities
Table U5 Direct investments, net incurrence of liabilities (by country of origin)
Table U6 Direct investments, net incurrence of liabilities (by resident activity)

Foreign direct investments include equity capital, reinvested earnings and debt relations between ownership-related residents and non-residents. Direct investments are investments whereby a foreign owner acquires a minimum of 10% interest in equity capital of a company, regardless of whether a resident invests abroad or a non-resident invests in Croatian residents. The CNB Survey on foreign direct investments started in 1997 when companies included in the survey also delivered data on direct investments for the 1993–1996 period. For the same period, no data are available on reinvested earnings and other capital under direct investment position, where all debt relations between related residents and non-residents are classified. Such data actually became available only after the stated survey had been launched. Since 1999, data on debt relations within direct investments have been collected on the basis of external debt relations statistics. As transactions related to the purchase and sale of the real estate are also part of direct investments, in 2007, the CNB's Statistics Department launched a survey on the purchase and sale of the real estate by non-residents in the territory of the Republic of Croatia. Persons obliged to submit reports are the public notaries who learn about these transactions in the course of their business. Data on the purchase and sale of the real estate by Croatian residents abroad were compiled on the basis of the International Transactions Reporting System (ITRS) until its abolishment in late 2010. From 2011 on, these data are compiled on the basis of the Report on the real estate trade abroad.

From 31 October 2014, the Croatian National Bank started publishing data on external statistics (balance of payments, external debt and international investment position) in accordance with the methodology prescribed by the Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual, 6th edition (BPM6). In line with the application of the new statistical standard, the presentation form of direct investments has also been changed. Direct investments are no longer classified in accordance with the directional principle to direct investments into the Republic of Croatia and direct investments abroad. Instead, under BPM6, the assets/liabilities principle is applied. In addition, direct investments within each of the segments are further divided into:

  1. Direct investments in direct investment enterprises ("regular" direct investment).
  2. Investments in direct investor (reverse investment). This type of investment involves investments where the original recipient of a direct investment invests less than 10% in the capital of its direct investor or grants its direct investor some form of a loan (credit, note).
  3. Investments between horizontally related enterprises (fellows). This type of direct investments implies investments where the investor holds less than 10% share in the capital if the investor belongs to the same group of enterprises as the reporting entity. In this context, a group of enterprises comprises legal persons directly or indirectly controlled by a single legal or natural person. Under the previous methodology, this type of direct investment was included in data but was not separately presented.

According to BPM6, all debt relations between two affiliated financial intermediaries are treated in the same manner – outside direct investments, i.e. within other or portfolio investments (BPM5 classified transactions with a permanent debt feature into direct investments).

BPM6 introduces the concept of “quasi-corporations”, which refers to corporations producing goods and services in a foreign economy without being a separate legal entity in that economy. Types of quasi-corporations include: branches, notional resident units, multiterritory enterprises, joint ventures, partnerships, etc. In Croatia, branches have been monitored separately within direct investment as of 2005.