Crisis periods have a significant impact on the economy, causing a wide range of negative consequences. The global COVID-19 pandemic has further disrupted economic flows, especially in Croatia, where measures such as credit programs and guarantees have been introduced to mitigate the negative effects. Although some sectors, such as information and communication activities, experienced growth during the pandemic, most sectors faced major financial challenges. The aim of this paper is to analyze the riskiness of small and medium-sized enterprises in Croatia during the pandemic, with a focus on three key sectors: transport and storage, accommodation and food service, and information and communications. Financial indicators and Altman's Z-score were analyzed on the data sample in order to determine differences in riskiness between sectors. The research results showed that the transport and storage sector is the riskiest. The average value of the current liquidity coefficient (0.93) indicates problems with the settlement of current liabilities, and the average value of the net margin is negative (-16.83), which means that companies in this sector did not make a profit. Altman's Z-score of 0.92 placed this sector in the red zone, indicating a high probability of financial difficulties. The transport and storage sector showed the highest risk, while the accommodation and food service sectors and the information and communication sectors showed different degrees of resistance to pandemic challenges.