The Croatian Competition Authority (AZTN) has carried out a review of key indicators and publicly available information related to the construction sector in Croatia for the period 2024-2025. The aim is to gain a better understanding of sectoral circumstances and to identify areas where enhanced analytical monitoring is justified, especially concerning public procurement procedures.

This review is primarily based on secondary, publicly available sources, including data from the Financial Agency's InfoBIZ and the State Bureau of Statistics, as well as selected information from the Electronic Public Procurement Bulletin (EOJN). It is not a formal sector investigation and does not represent findings in individual cases. The findings are informative and serve as a basis for monitoring trends and potential risks to competition in this sector.

The review covers activities in the construction sector (F - NKD 2025) at the national level, using a classification framework for collecting and presenting indicators. In 2024, the construction sector accounted for just under nine percent of total revenues and employed about twelve percent of all workers in Croatia. The growth of assets and revenues in 2024 slightly slowed compared to 2023.

In 2024, non-residential buildings represented the largest individual type of construction by value of completed works (33.7%), while the largest share of revenue was recorded in infrastructure works (over 41%), including transport infrastructure (26.7%) and pipelines, communication, and energy lines (14.5%).

The analysis particularly focused on 32 large companies classified according to accounting regulations. Collectively, these companies employed 7,307 workers (six percent of all construction workers), held over two billion euros in assets (12.1% of total construction assets), and generated 2.55 billion euros in total revenues (18.1% of total revenues).

Among these are four entities that primarily provide construction services for their own needs (Croatian Roads Ltd., Croatian Highways Ltd., BINA-Istra d.d., and Railway Construction Ltd.). The sole founder of Croatian Roads Ltd. and Croatian Highways Ltd. is the Republic of Croatia; the sole founder of Railway Construction Ltd. is HŽ Infrastruktura Ltd., also solely owned by the Republic of Croatia; and BINA-Istra d.d. has Croatian Highways Ltd. as one of its shareholders.

Indicators of concentration were calculated based on shares of total revenues. The Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI) is 54, indicating that total revenues in the sector are distributed among a larger number of companies. For large construction companies, the HHI is 517, with the top five companies accounting for 39.7% of total revenues, and the top ten accounting for 58.2%. This indicates a more pronounced concentration compared to the overall sector.

The review also noted that four companies produce cement in Croatia, including Nexe, Holcim, Calucem, and Cemex Croatia, and most of these manufacturers also own concrete plants. The AZTN emphasizes the importance of analytical monitoring of public procurement, especially since it has functional access to EOJN data, allowing for the tracking of market patterns and movements.

In conclusion, the review indicates that a large number of companies operate in the market, and total revenues are distributed among a significant number of businesses. The AZTN will continue to monitor the construction sector and take necessary actions in case of suspected violations of competition law, with a particular focus on combating prohibited agreements in public procurement processes.