One in ten crowns of Czech GDP comes from making cars. A plain guide to what this country produces and who buys it.
The Czech Republic is one of the most industrial economies in Europe — not in the smokestack sense, but in the sense that it still makes physical things and sells them abroad. Manufacturing is around a quarter of GDP, one of the highest shares on the continent, and exports are worth more than 70% of the entire economy. Understanding that explains a great deal about the country.
Cars, above all
The automotive sector alone is roughly 10% of Czech GDP — the highest share of value added of any country in Europe. Around 200,000 people work in it directly, and more than 430,000 once you count suppliers, which is about 8% of everyone employed in the country. Cars and parts make up close to a fifth of all Czech exports.
The three carmakers
Škoda Auto in Mladá Boleslav, owned by Volkswagen since the 1990s, is the giant and the national symbol. Hyundai builds in Nošovice, Toyota in Kolín. Around them sits a dense network of component suppliers spread across the whole country.
Beyond cars
Engineering, electronics, metallurgy, chemicals and pharmaceuticals are all significant. So is machine tooling, an old Czech strength dating back to the Austro-Hungarian industrial belt. Prague itself is increasingly a services and IT city rather than an industrial one.
Who buys it
Germany takes about 30% of Czech goods exports, followed by Slovakia and Poland. The economy is tightly coupled to German manufacturing, which is a strength in good years and the main vulnerability in bad ones.
What this means for visitors
Prices in Prague have converged with Western Europe while wages have not fully caught up. The country keeps its own currency, the koruna, and has repeatedly declined to adopt the euro — a decision with broad public support.
Häufig gestellte Fragen
Is the Czech Republic a rich country?
It is a high-income EU economy, wealthier than its neighbours to the east and south, though wages remain below the German or Austrian level.
Why is the car industry so dominant?
Skilled engineering labour, a central location inside the EU single market, and decades of investment after Škoda was bought by Volkswagen.
Does the Czech Republic use the euro?
No. It uses the Czech koruna (CZK) and has no target date for adopting the euro.
Read more: business in Prague, visiting in September Und Czech inventions.
Last reviewed in August 2026.
