{"id":1975,"date":"2026-09-28T09:10:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T07:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/omniasolutions.hr\/?p=1975"},"modified":"2026-10-29T23:47:06","modified_gmt":"2026-10-29T22:47:06","slug":"eu-budget-net-balances-small-member-states","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/omniasolutions.hr\/en\/eu-budget-net-balances-small-member-states\/","title":{"rendered":"Net balances in the EU budget: small member states receive the most per inhabitant, and Croatia ranked sixth in 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On the operating budgetary balance, Croatia received a net EUR 1,107 million from the EU budget in 2024. That is 1.29% of gross national income (GNI), sixth among the 27 member states, or EUR 287 per inhabitant. In 2023 Croatia ranked first in the EU with 3.07% of GNI. Relative to the size of their economies Latvia (2.60% of GNI), Lithuania and Estonia receive the most, while the largest net contributor is Germany (EUR 13.1 billion). The European Commission has not published official net balances since the 2020 data, so these figures are a calculation by the German institute IW K\u00f6ln using the Commission\u2019s former methodology. According to the Croatian Government, from accession to mid-2025 Croatia paid EUR 6.51 billion into the EU budget and received EUR 23.26 billion into its state budget, including the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A net balance shows the difference between what a country receives from the EU budget and what it pays in. It is popular in political debate, especially ahead of negotiations on a new multiannual budget, but it is easy to misread. This analysis shows the net balances of all 27 member states for 2024, the latest year with data, looks closely at the small member states, explains how the net balance is calculated and what it does not show, and summarises the proposal for the 2028\u20132034 budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In brief<\/h2>\n\n\n\n