20 Kuna – Croatia

In 2021, Croatia was in the final phase of a long-standing monetary transition, operating with the kuna (HRK) as its national currency while being formally integrated into the European Exchange Rate Mechanism II (ERM II). This "waiting room" for Eurozone membership, which Croatia entered in July 2020, required the country to maintain a stable exchange rate against the euro within a narrow band of ±15%. Throughout 2021, the Croatian National Bank successfully maintained this stability, with the kuna trading firmly around 7.5 HRK per EUR, a level it had held for years. This stability was a key prerequisite for the upcoming adoption of the euro.

The year was characterized by active technical and legislative preparations for the historic currency switch. The government and financial institutions worked on a detailed changeover plan, including public communication campaigns, logistical preparations for the dual circulation period, and the recalibration of millions of prices and automated systems. A significant milestone was the official convergence report published by the European Commission in June 2021, which gave a positive assessment of Croatia's readiness, confirming it met all the Maastricht criteria for adoption, albeit with a high but falling public debt level.

Underlying these technical steps was a broad political and social consensus in favor of euro adoption. Key motivations included the elimination of exchange rate risk and transaction costs for the tourism-dependent economy, enhanced investment stability, and the symbolic completion of Croatia's deeper integration into the European Union's core economic and political structures. Therefore, 2021 was not a year of monetary crisis or fluctuation for the kuna, but rather one of deliberate and stable preparation, setting the stage for the planned replacement of the kuna with the euro on January 1, 2023.