The influential intellectual heavyweight and former president, Vaclav Havel, may be the first person who springs to mind on mentioning the Czech Republic, while others may associate the country with legendary world-class ice-hockey player Jaromir Jagr or other sports successes.
The international business community’s perception of the Czech Republic, however, may slightly differ. Granted, the same attributes that influence the above-mentioned perceptions, like commitment, competence and competitiveness, are prevalent, but manifest themselves differently.
Increasingly, the Czech Republic, which joined the European Union in 2004, is recognized as the optimal business environment from which to better serve international customers. This is a result of several factors, the most notable being the sustained enhancements to the business environment implemented by the Czech government and the ability of the country’s pre-eminent natural resource, intellectual capital, to respond to the needs of knowledge-based and innovation-driven businesses.
The Czech Republic was the first CEE country to be admitted into the OECD. The country is a member of NATO and is fully integrated into other international organisations such as the WTO, IMF and EBRD.
.
| Key information about the Czech Republic |
|
| Area |
78,870 km² |
| Population |
10.6 million |
| Workforce |
5.4 million |
| Capital |
Prague |
| Language |
Czech |
| Currency |
Czech crown (CZK) |
| Time zone |
GMT +1, daylight saving time GMT +2 |
Source: Czech Statistical Office, 2018
| Main Economic Indicators |
2012 |
2013 |
2014 |
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
2018* |
2019* |
| GDP growth (constant prices,%) |
-0.8 |
-0.5 |
2.7 |
5.3 |
2.5 |
4.3 |
3.0 |
2.9 |
| General government debt (% GDP) |
44.5 |
44.9 |
42.2 |
40.0 |
36.8 |
34.7 |
33.0 |
31.9 |
| Long-term interest rates (YTM of 10Y government bonds) |
2.73 |
2.19 |
1.41 |
0.63 |
0.40 |
1.03 |
2.1 |
2.6 |
| Average inflation rate (%) |
3.3 |
1.4 |
0.4 |
0.3 |
0.7 |
2.5 |
2.2 |
2.3 |
| Labour productivity (increase in %) |
-1.2 |
-0.8 |
2.2 |
3.8 |
0.8 |
2.7 |
1.6 |
2.7 |
| Unemployment rate (avg., %) |
7.0 |
7.0 |
6.1 |
5.1 |
4.0 |
2.9 |
2.3 |
2.3 |
| Average nominal gross wage (increase in %) |
2.5 |
-0.1 |
2.9 |
3.2 |
4.4 |
6.2 |
8.2 |
8.1 |
| Average nominal monthly gross wage ( CZK ) |
25,067 |
25,035 |
25,768 |
26,591 |
27,764 |
29,496 |
31,900 |
34,500 |
| Average nominal monthly gross wage ( USD ) |
1,280 |
1,280 |
1,242 |
1,081 |
1,136 |
1,261 |
1,484 |
1,627 |
| Average nominal monthly gross wage ( EUR ) |
997 |
964 |
936 |
975 |
1,027 |
1,120 |
1,251 |
1,386 |
| Exchange rate - CZK/USD (avg.) |
19.58 |
19.56 |
20.75 |
24.6 |
24.43 |
23.39 |
21.5 |
21.2 |
| Exchange rate - CZK/EUR (avg.) |
25.14 |
25.97 |
27.53 |
27.28 |
27.03 |
26.33 |
25.5 |
24.9 |
Source: Macroeconomic Forecast of Ministry of Finance, November 2018
Note: *Forecast
The Czech Republic is divided into 14 regions (Higher Territorial Self-governing Units), which came into being on 1 January 2000. The Basic Territorial Self-governing Unit is the municipality.
Source: CzechInvest, 2018