Croatia Healthcare Private Sector Opportunities

The size of the private healthcare sector in Croatia is expanding for the past decade, with an average annual growth rate of 10%. The private sector accounts for about 12% of the total healthcare spending, with the most out-of-pocket payments used for pharmaceutical products, dental care, and outpatient treatments.

Individual medical practices are still prevailing in the private sector. About 75% of primary healthcare services (general practitioners, pediatricians, gynecologists) in the country are provided by private institutions and paid for by the Croatian Health Insurance Fund, a public healthcare fund. Dental and diagnostic services have also been widely available in the private sector. Orthopedic, cosmetic, and rehabilitation are among the most advanced healthcare areas in the private sector. In the recent years, private sector has been advancing and expanding, offering more complex and extensive range of healthcare services.

Advance of the private sector is triggered by growing demand, as well as acquisitions of local institutions by large regional investors. Growth drivers for the private healthcare sector are multiple: greater use of private providers for the public health services, medical tourism, and projected growth of the out-of-pocket expenditures. The largest acquisitions in the market were by the Provectus Capital Partners (PCP), an independent investment firm with a focus on Southeastern Europe. PCP has invested in 9 institutions, creating Arsano Medical Group for healthcare services, and Adria Dental Group for dental services. Czech fertility clinic Pronatal acquired Croatian Polyclinic IVF. There are other large private healthcare institutions announcing large investments and/or expansion of their service portfolio, including cardiovascular clinic Magdalena, special oncology hospital Radiochirurgia, polyclinic Medikol, special hospital Agram, policlinic Croatia, ophthalmology clinic Svjetlost, special hospital Sv. Katarina.

We believe that growth of the private healthcare sector in Croatia will create higher demand for the most advanced medical solutions. For additional information and assistance, please e-mail the U.S. Commercial Service office in Croatia at: office.zagreb@trade.gov.