TRIESTE – Rijeka is confirmed as Croatia’s main container hub and aims to exceed 1.6 million TEUs thanks to the new Rijeka Gateway terminal, a €400 million project designed to strengthen the port’s role in traffic flows between Asia and Central and Eastern Europe.
It is one of the key points to emerge from the report “Croatia’s blue economy. Ports and maritime transport as key drivers of growth”, presented in Opatija by PBZ, a bank of the Intesa Sanpaolo Group, and SRM (the research centre linked to the Intesa Sanpaolo Group). The study highlights how Croatia’s blue economy now accounts for more than 7% of national value added, the highest share in the European Union, with a contribution of €4.1 billion and around 151,000 people employed.
According to the analysis, Croatia is consolidating its role as a logistics, maritime and energy platform in the Adriatic thanks to its strategic position along the European TEN-T corridors. The country is crossed by the Mediterranean Corridor, which connects Rijeka to Budapest via Ljubljana and Zagreb, and by the Rhine-Danube Corridor. In terms of traffic, extra-EU maritime trade increased from €2.8 billion in 2015 to €3.8 billion in 2025 and now accounts for 19% of Croatia’s extra-European trade.
Particular attention is given to the growing integration between the ports of Rijeka, Trieste and Koper, which are set to form an Adriatic platform with an overall capacity of more than 5.6 million TEUs.
In this scenario, Rijeka is recording strong growth: in 2025 it handled 13.77 million tonnes of cargo, up 8.3% on the previous year. Containers account for 34% of total volumes, while 73% of cargo consists of import traffic.
Alongside the Rijeka Gateway terminal, developed by the joint venture between APM Terminals (Maersk Group) and ENNA Group, the new Rijeka-Zagreb railway line is also planned: a 170-kilometre double-track infrastructure project with estimated investments of €2.5 billion and completion expected between 2032 and 2036.
The study also highlights the growing role of the ports of Ploče and Split. Ploče aims to increase its container capacity from 60,000 to 500,000 TEUs, while Split, the country’s main passenger port, is planning new Ro-Ro terminals, cruise infrastructure and more efficient connections with the airport. Energy represents another pillar of growth. Liquid bulk accounts for 49% of national maritime traffic and Croatia is playing an increasingly important role in the Adriatic energy corridor thanks to the LNG terminal on Krk island and its connections with the main energy infrastructure in the Mediterranean.
On the innovation front, the Italy-Croatia 2021-2027 programme has allocated around €25 million to seven projects dedicated to smart ports, cybersecurity and logistics digitalisation, while the entire digital maritime ecosystem is mobilising investments of more than €60 million.
According to SRM, despite some critical issues linked to the availability of port areas, the shortage of qualified personnel and administrative procedures, the combination of infrastructure investments, energy transition and growth in container traffic strengthens the outlook for Croatia as an increasingly central player in the logistics chains of the Mediterranean and Central and Eastern Europe.
