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Only around 10 shopping centre projects have been announced for Slovenia. Things are not better in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where still-low purchasing power and effects of the economic crisis have led to only around 7 projects. Yet Croatia still remains very popular with investors, attracting some 30 projects. Around 10 projects are in the pipeline for Zagreb alone. How many of these projects will be realised remains uncertain, however.

Although all three countries were constituent republics of the former Yugoslavia, there are some differences between them which also make themselves apparent in the development of the countries‘ respective shopping centre landscapes. Whereas Slovenia and Croatia were always among the wealthier constituent republics, development in Bosnia and Herzegovina was slower. However, Slovenia, with a population of around 2 million, is the wealthiest country of the entire former Eastern bloc: The average Slovene has an annual purchasing power of around 9,000 euros, with Germans having some 17,900 but Russians only about 2,300 per capita per year. With 4.4 million inhabitants Croatia has a per capita purchasing power of around 4,400 euros, whereas in Bosnia and Herzegovina purchasing power per capita stands at only just over 1,900 euros for a population of 3.8 million.

The first modern shopping centres were developed in all three countries in as early as the ‘90s. But the real boom came at the start of the new millennium. With around 90,000 m² of GLA, West Gate near Zagreb is Croatia’s largest shopping centre. Slovenia’s largest shopping centre is Citypark in Ljubliana with 53,000 m², and Arizona in Brcko is the largest shopping centre in Bosnia and Herzegovina with 40,000 m². The reason why Slovenia’s largest shopping centre has only 53,000 m² is that this property is located within a retail park (BTC City in Ljubliana) which actually covers a total of 119.000 m²!