In 2009, the IT services market in Croatia totaled almost 394 million, representing a year-on-year decline of 7.2% in U.S. dollar terms. Measured in local currency, the market decreased by 0.6% compared to the previous year. IDC expects spending on IT services in Croatia to decline by 0.9% in 2010 but to recover subsequently along with the upturn of the economy and achieve average annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.4% from 2011 to 2014.

“The IT services market in Croatia was dragged down by the 2009–2010 recession but fortunately, the slowdown of the economy is concentrated in the verticals that traditionally have not been IT intensive,” says Boris Zitnik, Managing Director IDC Adriatics. “On the other hand, heavy IT spenders like telecoms and banking, continue to show impressive business results, and, most importantly, they will not be able to forestall important IT investments for another year.”

The systems Integration category accounted for the largest share (14.8%) of IT services revenue in 2009, followed by custom application development (14.4%) and application consulting and customization (13.5%).

The Croatian public sector was the biggest spender in terms of IT services investment with 22.8% market share. The financial sector placed second with 21.2% share, followed by telecommunications with 19.8% of the total IT services expenditure.

The top three IT services providers in Croatia in 2009 based on revenue were Siemens SIS, Combis, and King ICT, followed by IBM was the leading IT services provider of $39.90 million and 8.2% market share. Combis placed second last year, with $31.08 million for 6.4% share of the market. King ICT ranked third, with $30.34 million and 6.3% share. IBM and Apis IT rounded out the top five IT services providers in the country in 2009, with 5.9% and 5.4% of the market, respectively.

IDC’s Croatia IT Services Market 2010–2014 Forecast and 2009 Vendor Shares (IDC # ES02S) presents the Croatian IT services industry in 2009 and forecasts expenditures on IT services through 2014. The study provides market size information, vendor market shares, and revenues by IT services categories and vertical markets, and includes profiles of the top five IT services providers, including their IT services portfolios, their presence in individual vertical markets, and their largest contracts in 2009.