The year 2023 promises to be synonymous with change and on the eve of the first day, December 31, 2022, Croatia said goodbye to its currency, the kuna. It therefore becomes the country becomes the twentieth member of the euro area and the 27th state to join the Schengen area.
Already a member of the European Union since July 2013, Croatia had not yet adopted the euro until this Sunday, January 1, 2023. In addition, it therefore becomes a member of the Schengen area. This area includes several countries, whose residents (more than 400 million people) can travel freely without internal border controls.
The actions necessary for this crossing will be put in place on Sunday with the closure of 73 border posts. As far as airports are concerned, that will have to wait until March 26, 2023.
The impact of this entry for Croats
The opinion concerning Croatia’s accession to the euro zone, and therefore to the Schengen area, gives rise to different reactions. If leaders withhold profits, citizens fear inflation.
According to Croatian leaders, who refer to the opinion of experts, this changeover to the euro “will help to protect the Croatian economy”, currently considered one of the “weakest” in the European Union.
Croatia had to face many difficulties. At first, the country was at war in the 1990s, and which lost 10% of its population. Then, regarding recent years, Croatia experienced a 6-year recession between 2009 and 2015, but has recovered since 2016.
Indeed, since 2016 unemployment has fallen to 7.2% and GDP per capita is now at 70% of the EU average, placing it between Greece and Portugal. Nevertheless, the country has faced inflation and an energy crisis since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Citizens, for their part, fear a rise in prices when switching from the Euro, especially if companies round up the prices to the level above the conversion.
