Dubrovnik annals, No. 8, 2004.
Original scientific paper
Population and Gross Domestic Product of Croatia (1500-1913) in the Light of Angus Maddison’s Book The World Economy: A Millennial Perspective
Vladimir Stipetić
Abstract
Based on Maddison’s data on the levels of gross domestic product per capita of Italy, the Venetian Republic, Austria and Eastern Europe, the author calculates through complex procedures an estimate of gross domestic product (GDP) per capita in Croatia in the period between 1500 and 1913. It is estimated that in 1500 the Republic of Dubrovnik realised 70% of the GDP of the Venetian Republic, while the coastal Dalmatian communes achieved 60%. The rural hinterland of Dalmatia and Istria, as well as both Croatia and Slavonia, had a substantially lower GDP per capita. By weighting these amounts, the author calculates the GDP per capita of Croatia as a whole. The situations in 1700, 1820 and 1913 are also estimated in a similar manner, by starting from regional differences and the realised progress or regress. When these results are compared with Maddison’s findings, it is concluded that in around 1500, in terms of its economic development, Croatia was 2% below the world average, and 25% below the West European average, while in 1913 it was 9% below the world, and as much as 60% below the West European average.
Keywords
Croatia; history; Angus Maddison; population; economy; historical demography; gross domestic product
Hrčak ID:
19730
URI
Publication date:
2.8.2004.
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