Croatia: Potato Imports Rise 22.6% to 86,340 Tonnes as Harvest Falls to 111,691
Croatia harvested 111,691 tonnes of potatoes in 2025, 16.6% less than in 2024, while imports rose 22.6% to 86,340 tonnes. Self-sufficiency may fall below 40%.
Croatia harvested 111,691 tonnes of potatoes in 2025 on 6,667 hectares, according to data reported by Financije.hr on 18 September 2026. This was 16.6% less than the 133,862 tonnes of 2024. The average yield fell from 18 to 16.8 tonnes per hectare. Eurostat lists almost the same numbers: 111,920 tonnes from 6,680 hectares.
Imports grow
At the same time, imports rose by 22.6% to 86,340 tonnes, according to Financije.hr. Their value grew by only 2.3%, to €33.9 million, because the average import price fell by 16.7%, from €471 to €393 per tonne. Egypt supplies young potatoes. The Netherlands and Germany supply seed potatoes, which made up about 14% of imports. Germany and France supply potatoes for processing.
Financije.hr says domestic output covered 52% of demand in 2024. For the 2025/26 season, potato growers in Međimurje estimate that it is below 40%. Mirjan Dodlek of the Međimurje potato producers association told Dnevnik.hr in April 2026 that many farmers stopped growing potatoes because they lacked money.
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A fragmented sector
Croatia has 8,667 farms that grow potatoes, and the average plot is only 0.6 hectares, Financije.hr says. Međimurje in the north is one of the main commercial areas.
A long decline
Eurostat data, based on the Croatian Bureau of Statistics (DZS), show 198,240 tonnes on 17,240 hectares in 2000. Output peaked at 296,300 tonnes in 2007. Since then, the area has fallen by more than half. National DZS figures show 174,279 tonnes in 2020, 103,400 tonnes in 2022 and 126,281 tonnes in 2023.
For 2026, Financije.hr expects about 20% fewer hectares. Eurostat, however, lists 6,700 hectares for 2026, close to the 2025 level.
Why it matters
Croatia now imports close to as much potato as it grows. Lower import prices help consumers but put more pressure on local growers. Small plots, high costs and drought make it hard for Croatian farms to compete with large producers in Germany, France and Egypt.
For exporters, Croatia is a growing market. For the Croatian sector, the key questions are storage, irrigation and the ability of small farms to invest.
Photo: Potato plant in flower (not Croatia) (illustrative). Alejandro Bayer Tamayo from Armenia, Colombia / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
