ZAGREB, 26 April 2022 - Croatia urgently needs a national demographic revitalisation strategy that will be binding on all future governments, heard a round table organised by the Social Democrats parliamentary group on Tuesday.

This is a national issue above party politics that requires a consensus, and action plans as part of a 10-year national demographic revitalisation strategy should be mandatory for all future governments, it was said at the round table organised in cooperation with the Department for Demography and Croatian Expatriate Community at the Faculty of Croatian Studies.

"Now is the last moment for resolute social action to slow down and halt the negative trends," the group's whip, Ivana Posavec Krivec, said.

The Social Democrats recalled the latest preliminary results of the population census, which they described as alarming.

"Croatia has lost 9.25% of its population in 10 years and now has 3,888,529 residents. In addition to the population decline, caused by the low birth rate and emigration, we are among the oldest European nations," she said.

Deputy Parliament Speaker Davorko Vidović said the key problem was "the lack of political will and inability of the political elite" to define a broader project and broader vision of where Croatia should be in 20 or 30 years' time.

"We lack a strategic document and key vision so it is no wonder we don't have a solution for individual areas such as demography," he added.

Professor Anđelko Akrap from the Demographics Department at the Faculty of Economics said that "Croatia has never implemented a demographic policy which costs, just like any other production."

Akrap: Only Croatia, Romania, Latvia and Bulgaria have a negative natural increase rate

"Only Croatia, Romania, Latvia and Bulgaria have a negative natural increase rate and negative net migration, other countries only have emigration," he said, noting that the negative trends would impact GDP growth.

Professor Tado Jurić of the Croatian Catholic University underscored that not one other EU member state apart from Croatia had experienced a 10% population decrease in eight years.

He noted that economic reasons were not the only reasons why people are emigrating.

"Surveys have shown that lack of security and injustice are the main reasons why people emigrate," he said.

The only way Croatia can resolve its demographic problem is with immigration. We need positive population measures. Classic demographic measures are useless if they are not accompanied by a resolute fight against corruption and nepotism, concluded Jurić.

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January 31, 2021 – Long in preparation and last undertaken way back in 2011, media reports that the much anticipated 2021 Croatian census may now be postponed indefinitely

Preparations for the 2021 Croatian census have been long in the making. Plans have been ongoing since 2016. The last census was undertaken back in 2011 and the population has been impacted by both immigration and emigration since then. But, nobody is exactly sure by how much. This information was just some of the vital data people had hoped would be delivered by the 2021 Croatian census. But, now that may not happen. Some Croatian media is now saying the Croatian census has been postponed indefinitely.

Just one month ago the director of the Central Bureau of Statistics, Lidija Brković, said before the Parliamentary Committee for Local Self-Government that all preparations were being carried out with a view to the Croatian census taking place as scheduled. In an interview with N1 at the beginning of December, Boris Milosevic, Croatia's deputy prime minister (in whose department the Croatian census lies), also said the same.

But the census will not begin as planned on 1st April 2. N1 is currently reporting that it has been postponed indefinitely.

The coordinator for the census in the Central Bureau of Statistics, Damir Plesac, said that the main reason is the coronavirus. The Central Bureau of Statistics does not yet know for how long the Croatian census will be postponed because, as Plesac says, it will depend on epidemiological measures and the decision of the government and parliament, which must change the Census Act.

Croatian media ascertain from his answers that the census might not be expected to be completed before June 2021. To the question “is it weeks or months of delay?” Mr Plesac answered that it would be months.

Most of the Croatian census will therefore be moved until after the local elections in May. In their coverage of the census's indefinite postponement, the national portal Index reminds that some campaigning taking place in the run-up to these elections is focussing heavily on the numerical and demographical information that the Croatian census would provide.

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January the 5th, 2021 - November 2020 will be remembered as one of the worst months for many in Croatia. For my own self included. Sadly, 2544 more Croatian deaths occurred than births as one of the worst months throughout the pandemic did some of its most horrendous damage across Croatia.

As Marina Klepo/Novac writes, those who view the ongoing global coronavirus pandemic with less concern often referred, among many other things, to official statistics that indicated that mortality in the country was not increasing significantly compared to the pre-crisis period. This was the case until the terrible month of November, when, according to the CBS, the number of Croatian deaths jumped sharply - to 5,486 people, 1,367 more than just one month earlier.

It cannot be said that such a large number of Croatian deaths in one month has never been recorded, but such numbers are usually seen at the beginning of a year, most often in January, during the height of the influenza season. The blackest of all was January 2017, when 6,441 Croatian deaths were recorded.

When it comes to November, the highest number of deaths in the past decade was recorded in early 2011, when it stood at 4,516, about a thousand less than in the same month in an entirely tragic 2020. When you look at the first eleven months of 2020, there were 49,286 Croatian deaths, which is 1,666 more than there were in the same period last year.

However, given that a major deterioration with the coronavirus crisis ensued in December, when 50 to 70 casualties were recorded daily across the country, the overall data for last year will be far more devastating. It is well known that Croatia is one of the countries that continuously records a decline in population, mainly due to emigration and low fertility rates.

Since the country's independence from the former Yugoslavia, there have been more births than deaths in only two years - immediately after the war, in 1996 and 1997, when the natural increase was just over 3,000. In all other years, more people died than were born, and by 2012 that number was still below 10,000. In 2017 it reached almost 17,000. Due to the large emigration which took place following Croatia's accession to the European Union in 2013, the number of newborns fell sharply, and this trend has continued to this day.

Thus, 36,135 children were born in Croatia last year, 5,642 fewer than in 2012. Poor demographic results were slightly mitigated in 2018 and 2019, but now everything points to the fact that 2020 will be a record year when it comes to reducing the number of inhabitants, this time due to a large increase in the number of Croatian deaths. In the first 11 months of 2020 alone, the number of inhabitants decreased by 16,167, which is close to the worst so far, in 2017, when it decreased by 16,921.

According to the CBS, last year, Croatia had 4,065,253 inhabitants, 230,174 fewer than there were back in 2010. Sisak-Moslavina County, which has now been hit by a strong earthquake and a loss of human lives, lost almost a fifth of its population in that period - 28,455 people.

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December the 10th, 2020 - Family is one of the most important things of all, and during this challenging year full of unprecedented events, this has been proven to be true yet again. Meet Mudrica, the new Croatian E-Kids card.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marta Duic writes, the Central State Office for Demography and Youth (SDUDM) wants to further emphasise the value of family with Mudrica, a friend of every family. This is a Croatian E-Kids's card, a project that the Central Office is developing, considering and ultimately wants to implement in the daily lives of those who need it the most - parents and their children.

Incentive family and population measures are a priority of the activities of the Central State Office for Demography and Youth, which is aimed at long-term improvement of demographic trends and the creation of a favourable and stimulating environment for families and youth.

The Croatian E-Kids card is a measure that, through a system of discounts and benefits for users with children, regardless of their income, enables more favourable access to goods and services, ie the improvement of the general family standard. All parents, guardians and foster parents of at least one child under the age of eighteen can become users of the Croatian E-Kids card.

The need to promote the social and economic rights and interests of families with children has also been recognised across EU countries. In Spain, France, Germany, Austria, Hungary and other countries, there are independent, non-governmental organisations for families with three or more children to support and protect them and strengthen their integrity.

As they pointed out from SDUDM here in Croatia, there is also the Association of Families with Three or More Children "Tri Plus", which provides its members with various benefits through partner companies and organisations. However, Croatia has decided to go one step further than other countries in the implementation of measures and activities related to family and population policy.

The project - a virtual children's card, was conceived back at the end of 2018 by the Ministry of Demography, Family, Youth and Social Policy as a means of offering support and relief to both parents and their children.

The use of the new Croatian E-Kids card will go hand in hand with cooperation with partners from both the public and private sectors who have recognised the need for synergy to improve the demographic picture of Croatia, providing various benefits and discounts on products and services.

Unlike the aforementioned countries, this project would provide benefits for every single child, and when there are more children in the family, the percentage of discounts and benefits on products and services would grow. It's worth remembering that according to the last census carried out in Croatia, 112,830 families have three or more children, 319,658 families have two children, while 435,192 families have only one child.

In the first phase, the Croatian E-Kids card will be available as a free mobile app called "Mudrica" ​​through which parents will receive various discounts, and it will be connected to the e-Citizens system, which will fully ensure the accuracy and security of the data and contribute to today's path towards the goal of digitalisation.

The new Croatian E-Kids card will bring together a wide range of public and private partners from across the cultural, economic, health, educational, sports and other, family-oriented areas. State Secretary for Demography and Youth, Zeljka Josic, explained that in this way, the card will be a kind of symbol of social consensus on Croatian demographic renewal with the aim of promoting families with more children.

A number of benefits and services that will be provided to families with children through the children's card, in addition to improving the family standard, will also contribute to a better disposal of family time in our daily hectic lifestyles.

The Mudrica app will be available for use by the end of the year, and its use will be both easy and affordable. A person who wants to become a Croatian E-Kids card user will need to apply for its use in the e-Citizens system.

Security level 3 credentials will be required to access the e-Baby Card e-service. After submitting the application, the system will check the applicant's data in the Birth Register, the custodian register or the foster parents register and, if the conditions are met, approve the application and send activation data to email and user user box.

Mobile app

After activation, in order to be able to use the benefits of the Croatian E-Kids card, you will need to download and install the mobile app "Mudrica" ​​from the Google Play store or Apple store on your phone. After entering a user ID, activation code and selecting a PIN, you'll be able to start using the benefits provided by Mudrica.

As noted by SDUDM, the partners in the application are divided into categories, and you will be able to search for them via an interactive map depending on your location. By clicking on the selected partner branch, you will be able to see what benefits or discounts are offered to you.

The list of partners and information on benefits and discounts will be available on the Mudrica website, but also within the mobile application on the interactive map with which users will be able to quickly and easily inform themselves better about partners, their locations and the sort of discounts or benefits they offer.

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October 20, 2020 – In addition to changing the landscape of the Neretva coast, the Peljesac Bridge brought a demographic boom in this area, namely in the nearby municipalities of Ston and Slivno.

As Slobodna Dalmacija reports, statistic data says so, and in this case, the situation is favorable for two municipalities – Ston on Pelješac and Slivno on the Neretva River, which are connected by the Pelješac Bridge.

Unlike other Croatian regions that record a pronounced depopulation trend, especially in the Dalmatian hinterland, Ston and Slivno have an increase in the population of as many as 407 people. This is shown by the report of the Central Bureau of Statistics on estimates and natural population trends in the past year.

However, it cannot be said with certainty that the construction of the bridge directly affects the population growth, but it is certainly interesting that the positive demographic trends coincide with the intensification of work on the Pelješac Bridge. True, hundreds of workers temporarily staying in this area work on the bridge and the surrounding access roads, but it is assumed that they are not covered by these statistics because they do not have a permanent place of residence in the municipalities of Ston and Slivno.

Desirable places

The Mayor of Ston Municipality, Vedran Antunica, is delighted about the news that the number of inhabitants in the municipality of Ston increased by 281 people or 12.5 percent. Namely, in 2018 in the municipality of Ston there were 2246 inhabitants, and now there are 2521, interesting numbers in this part of Pelješac where tourism and shellfish farming, especially oyster farming, are the main economic activities.

"Our municipality provides certain benefits for young families and I am sure that this has also contributed to positive demographic trends," says Mayor Antunica.

For the first child born in a family permanently residing in the municipality, 5,000 kunas is paid from the municipal treasury, 10,000 for the second child, and 20,000 kunas for the third and each subsequent. Mayor Antunica notes that the money is paid at once, not in delays or installments.

"The municipality strives to make life as easy as possible for its residents. That is our main task. We have a kindergarten for children, a nursery, all the facilities as in a big city, and we are a small community. True, Dubrovnik is not far away, so we are a desirable place for living," says Antunica, adding that it is very difficult to buy a house or an apartment in big cities, so young people stay with their grandparents.

Ston and Pelješac will be an even more suitable place for a living once the Pelješac Bridge is built. This will be an additional stimulus to the economic and demographic renewal of this area, the people of Pelješac hope.

The municipality of Ston / Copyright Romulić and Stojčić

Technical increase

Somewhere people emigrate, and somewhere they immigrate. According to statistical indicators, they also move to the municipality of Slivno, the only coastal municipality on the Neretva River. Statistics say that during 2018 and 2019, the population of Slivno increased from 1868 to 2024, 156 people, or 8.35 percent.

The former mayor of Slivno Mate Dragobratović says that the area of ​​Slivno is the most beautiful part of the Neretva valley, so he sees that as the reason for the number of increasing residents who have decided to live on the Neretva coast. Everything is close – Metković, Ploče, Dubrovnik – and such a geographical position attracts many, especially young people.

"People are engaged in agriculture, growing mandarins, and tourism, which is a good combination," says Dragobratović, emphasizing that with the construction of the Pelješac Bridge and the connection of the Neretva and Pelješac, the municipality of Slivno will be even more desirable for young families.

However, Denis Šešelj, a former municipal councilor, and local politician points out that there is no real increase in population but a technical increase in the population of Slivno municipality.

"We have people who are registered in their weekend cottages in the municipality of Slivno, but live in Metković or elsewhere. So they avoid paying taxes. This is best seen when voting in elections. In the municipality of Slivno, the number of inhabitants has been increasing in this way for years. Some companies and crafts are also being opened because taxes and duties are lower," says Šešelj.

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As Mirela Lilek/Novac writes on the 27th of April, 2019, Croatia's situation still isn't good: the country is continuing to ''produce'' graduates with the third lowest employment rate in the whole of the European Union, and as a result, taxpayers pay more and more money for them. According to new data from Brussels, based on a comparative survey of youth employment among Croats with diplomas earned in the last three years, a third of highly educated people aged between 20 to 34 in Croatia have no jobs. Only Italy and Greece are worse.

Of the 28 countries EU member states, Croatia ranked 26th with a 66 percent employability rate. Four positions above Croatia lies Romania, Bulgaria is six places above, and Slovakia is nine places above. Croatia's neighbour to the north, Slovenia, is eleven places above Croatia, Poland is thirteen places above (impressively right behind Ireland and Denmark), and the Czech Republic, with an 89.9 percent employability rate which has impressed the European Commission's experts - has risen to an enviable fourth place.

Malta is in first place in Europe as an employer of its graduates with diplomas, the employment rate of Maltese students stands at a very impressive 94.5 percent, even better than Germany, which boasts a rate of 90.9 percent, followed then by the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, and then Austria. The EU average is on the rise, back in 2014 it stood at 76 percent and in 2018 it stood at 80.2 percent. Unfortunately, the Croats have been close to the bottom for years, more specifically for fifteen years, as it has a below-average rate of employability in relation to the EU. Of course, rather than attempt to fix the problem directly, the Croats are doing what the Croats always do - continuing to debate and argue over who is (more) to blame for such embarrassing conditions.

Economists see the issue as being that the Croats aren't adapting easily to the market, and that Croatia also has an old education system. At Croatia's universities, they argue that the key issue isn't Croatia's higher education institutions, but an underdeveloped labour market, low personal income, and demotivating working conditions. Experts from the European Commission have given a relatively simple answer: Investing in education will benefit everyone in Europe.

Let's see how they explain their theories in some of the country's universities, starting with the largest "producers" of graduates in the entire country, the Faculty of Philosophy and Economics in Zagreb.

''We're aware of the importance of linking study programs and labour market needs. In this regard, the Faculty of Economics makes an effort to make it easier for students to access the labour market by establishing multilateral cooperation with companies and respectable institutions that enable students to perform high-quality professional practices,'' stated Sanja Sever Mališ, who deals with strategic partnerships and projects at the Faculty of Economics in Zagreb. The basic message from this particular Zagreb university is that "they connect students and employers so their best students can find work even during their studies." Therefore, there is no concern for them.

On the other hand, Vesna Vlahović-Štetić, Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy, admits that Croatia's humiliating placement at the bottom of the employability scale of graduates is still something to be very concerned about and therefore the causes of that need to be looked at.

''I assume that part of the problem lies in insufficient development and the ability of the economy and the public sector to absorb newly graduated students. On the other hand, the question is how many colleges and higher education institutions meet the needs of society with their respective programs. At the state level, in some professions there's hyper-production, and in others there is a lack of experts. Additionally, study programs should be regularly updated and developed to meet not only society's needs but also predict what competences professionals will need in the future,'' the dean says.

Data obtained through the HKO project of the Faculty of Philosophy shows that the employability of their students in the year after graduation is 75 percent. They believe this is the result of "the excellent professional and generic competences of their graduates".

"We're convinced at the Faculty of Philosophy that the study programs need to be further improved, so we have just started the study reform process and I'm sure the future employability of our students will be even better," says the university's dean.

The rector of the University of Rijeka, Snježana Prijić Samaržija, doesn't want to run away from the fact that Croatia's universities do hold a share of the responsibility for this issue but, again, she's convinced that Croatia's higher education institutions are't the key cause of the problem, but the underdeveloped labour market definitely is.

Rijeka University has eleven faculties and four departments. On their official page, they point out that they are a modern European university and a centre of excellence within the region and beyond, and that they are responsible for the social and economic development of the community. Samardžija claims that she doesn't want to relate the worrying data on the high rate of unemployed with higher education, but that "it should be borne in mind that higher education is a better job-finding guarantee, such as landing a permanent position,"

"Of course, it's possible to say that the employment rate would be higher if universities, by some automation, increased their quotas for the job-type deficit and reduced those profiles for which the employment bureaus take care of. In that sense, people often say Croatia's institutions and their enrollment policies aren't adapted to the labour market. However, the situation isn't quite that simple.

For example, the market seeks shipbuilding engineers, we have shipbuilding studies and a corresponding quota at the University of Rijeka, but there's a fall in interest for those studies. We can understand the students' fears about the situation with Croatia's shipyards, but the fact is that the need for this profession is still growing. Similarly, despite the lack of mathematics and physics teachers and the excellent studies we have, the interest doesn't match the employment opportunities,'' she explained.

The University of Rijeka decided to put seven studies ''into retirement'' this year, and isn't accepting students for them. Those are acting and media, dental hygiene, computer science in combination with professional studies of medical-lab diagnostics, mechanical engineering, shipbuilding, and electrical engineering.

On the other hand, there's a considerable level of interest in studies that don't guarantee quick and permanent employment at all, such as the arts, cultural studies, and psychology.

''Young people choose studies according to their personal interests, not just employment opportunities. They don't necessarily just want a permanent job, many of them are accustomed to gaining work experience in different institutions, at different places of work, and in different countries. More and more, they prefer to individually define the curriculum through courses and practical competences beyond their study program(s), which will make their expertise comparatively more special and desirable. In the midst of a sluggish and non-ethnological labour market, more and more students enjoy prolonged youthful relationships with their parents or rent apartments,'' says Snježana Prijić Samaržija.

"I don't want to run away from the responsibility of the university, we're constantly thinking about the jobs of the future, we're working on increasing the quota for the deficit professions and improving our students' competences to reduce the unemployment rate. However, time is needed to see the results of these measures because the higher education cycle lasts for at least five years. It should be understood that universities can't just simply increase quotas for occupations for which there's a labour market need because new employment is frozen,'' noted the Rector of the University of Rijeka.

As Croatia's paradoxical situation of having no work but plenty of jobseekers, yet plenty of work and no staff, it's hard to predict the outcome of education system reforms as the market and its needs can alter so rapidly. Will Croatian students simply continue to trickle away on the stream of a proverbial leaking tap out into Western Europe, leaving Croatia with the rather unenviable title of a country that educates its citizens for work abroad? It's likely such a scenario will continue at least for the foreseeable future. Whether or not Croatia will manage to make the necessary alterations to fix that aforementioned ''leaky tap'' in time remains to be seen.

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Click here for the original article by Mirela Lilek for Novac/Jutarnji

The economic situation in Croatia is far from promising, and with more and more Croats flocking to Western European countries like the United Kingdom, Ireland and Germany, it seems that the country's massive staff shortages and concerning demographic crisis aren't about to be over any time soon. 

However, just how much milk and honey really flows through the rivers of Western Europe, or is it all just a myth? Having been raised in the UK and having lived in Croatia for years now, I can quite confidently state that neither milk nor honey can be found at least in the British isles, and while the economic conditions are indeed more stable and safe, the idea that huge wage packets and a perfect life are waiting for you when you step off the plane in London is farfetched, to say the very least.

Wages typically (not always, of course) match the cost of living, and when you need to pay over £100 for council tax per month and have your heating turned on for several months per year to cope with the cold temperatures and miserable weather, suddenly that fatter pay packet doesn't seem as appealing as it did at first.

As Croats from all corners of the country continue to go and try their hand abroad, thanks to Croatia's accession to the EU and the freedom of labour, many are faced with shocks which only longer than three months in their newly adopted Western European countries can show up.

As Novac writes on the 27th of April, 2019, Marko Mihaljević, a 27-year old Croat with a Masters degree, went from Babina Greda in Vukovar-Srijem County (Eastern Croatia) to the bustling German city of Frankfurt seven months ago, and managed to get a job in construction. He is one of the very many young Croats who haven't been able to find a job in Croatia, so they placed their hopes and dreams for a better future in the hands of one of the Croats' favourite countries to go and seek work - Germany.

However, just like in the United Kingdom, there are no rivers flowing with milk and honey in Germany either, and Marko soon found that out for himself.

"I thought it would get easier in time, but everything's harder," Mihaljević explains in a short Facebook video he posted in which he discusses the matter.

He shared his experiences of leaving Croatia and working in Germany via the aforementioned Facebook video, and told his fellow young Croats still in Croatia not to go abroad if they weren't absolutely sure of everything, because he himself thought things would be very different.

''I'm spending my days doing this job. I'm not trying to throw anyone under the bus, nor am I trying to talk badly about any job, because I've never underestimated anyone in my life, but I'm doing a job for which I don't even need a primary school education. Having a Master's degree sounds nice, but I've got to break my back here from morning til night for my bare existence because that's [gaining respectable employment with a Master's degree] not allowed in Croatia. Why is it not allowed? Because I'm not in any political party,'' Marko stated bluntly.

He says he's angry that as a man with a Master's degree, he has to work in the construction industry, but he currently has no choice,'' writes Fenix ​​Magazine.

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A Croatian YouTuber in Germany reveals all about double standards when it comes to your weekly shop...

All too often the Croatian media is plagued by depressing stories of Croats fleeing the country in search of better lives elsewhere. Since Croatia's accession to the European Union, this trend has only grown worse and the level at which emigration from Croatia has been is hardly sustainable for the country these people are leaving behind. 

Many people leave realising that hard work and a difficult adjustment period awaits them, however many assume Western European nations like the UK, Ireland and Germany boast rivers of milk and honey and that everyone earns a huge amount for doing very little, and well, the basic fact that higher wages are typically designed to manage the high cost of living seems to bypass many in their lust for a better economic situation. Some stay, and some return with a stark realisation that life abroad isn't quite as easy as they expected.

With all that said, just how much difference is there in the general price of things between Croatia and Germany? One Croatian YouTuber who moved to Germany back in 2014, just one year after Croatia's accession to the EU, made a video for all those would-be Croatian emigrants.

As Novac writes on the 18th of April, 2019, Ivan Lovric, the oner of the YouTube channel Lovra who moved to Germany with his family in 2014, compared some basic food prices in Germany to those in Croatia in his new video.

''I thought it would be a really good idea to buy some stuff in a shop in Germany, and get my wife to buy the same things over in Croatia. To make a comparison and check whether or not it's really, as it's often said, that it's cheaper in Germany,'' explains Lovra in his video's introduction, which is in Croatian.

They arranged for Ivan's wife to visit the exact same store, a German merchant which has their own stores in Croatia, and buy the same basic foods like bread, milk, eggs, and flour. Although Ivan didn't want to name the store in his video for various reasons, he says that it will not be difficult for people to realise which store it is when they see the branded products.

The first product that the pair checked was bread, more precisely ciabatta. Ivan bought it in Germany and paid the equivalent of 5.13 kuna, and his wife spent 5.99 kuna for the exact same thing here in Croatia. The difference is a mere 86 lipa, less than 1 kuna, so Lovra concluded that that's not so terrible. Once again, the next difference is very small, but again, it leans in favour of Germany when compared to the Croatian price of milk. One litre of milk in Croatia stands at 4.99 kuna, and in Germany, at a lower price of what would be 4.61 kuna. A packet of toast and and a kilograms of fries (chips) in Germany, is cheaper by about 1.50 kuna when compared to Croatia, while sour cream is cheaper in Croatia, sold at 2.99 kuna, whereas in Germany it costs 3.64 kuna.

Still, the biggest surprise, and not in a positive way, are eggs. A box of ten eggs for which Lovro gave 8.85 kuna, his wife paid a significantly higher 13.49 kuna here in Croatia, almost five kuna more. The difference is almost 3 kuna more when comparing the prices of Nutella, a favourite of many. Over in Germany, a 400g pack costs 20.75 kuna, and in Croatia it costs 23.49 kuna.

In the end, Lovra paid a total of 131.54 kuna for his basket, and the exact same basket from the exact same German store, but in Croatia, was almost 20 kuna more, or 150.03 kuna.

''Yes, I unfortunately have to say that in Germany it's cheaper than it is in Croatia. There's not a big difference, but I believe that when everything is calculated at an annual level, the difference is a lot bigger,'' concluded Lovra.

He also added the fact that the average wage in Croatia is considerably lower than in Germany, and thus Croats have a lower standard of living than the Germans.

If you're able to understand Croatian, watch Ivan's video here:

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Despite the odd investment here and there, continental Croatia rarely gets a look in when compared to the coast, particularly when compared to Dalmatia. In Eastern Croatia, more specifically Slavonia, the situation is even more depressing, but it seems that not everything is as bleak as we sometimes like to imagine and even portray.

As Suzana Varosanec/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 16th of April, 2019, the economic expectations from the Luka Brod (Brod Port) project worth more than 100 million kuna are high. Through the construction of new port infrastructure, the project has become the driving force for the development of Brod-Posavina County, as was highlighted by the Croatian Government.

As stated, the much anticipated construction of new port infrastructure is the driving force for the development of this Slavonian county, this was highlighted at the eighth session of the Council for Slavonia, Baranja and Srijem, and according to the prime minister, it's essential for the Croatian Government and local self-government units to do everything to create the proper conditions for economic development that will end the mass exodus of citizens from Croatia.

Until now, contracted projects with EU funding amount to 9.7 billion kuna, stated the Minister of Regional Development and EU Funds, Gabrijela Žalac. Another 1.85 billion kuna are contracted investments from the state budget.

For the strengthening of the Croatian economy, the development and enhancement of competitiveness, projects such as Brod Port are of great importance, stated the Croatian Chamber of Commerce's Mirjana Cagalj. This is also an incentive for the development of a local environment that is particularly burdened with the exodus of the resident population who are leaving in their droves owing to the unfavourable economic situation, contributing to Croatia's worrying demographic crisis.

Its exceptional traffic position provides great potential for the development of the new port in Slavonski Brod in an intermodal logistics centre, which, according to Cagalj, would work to influence its future strategic role in international container traffic because Brod Port is located on the border of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, near the crossing of the railway corridor X and the road corridor Vc, which is an international entry port for the EU.

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Click here for the original article by Suzana Varosanec for Poslovni Dnevnik

Croatia's employment issues are somewhat perplexing to many, and although there has apparently been a massive drop in unemployment, there's only been a very slight jump in those registering as newly employed. The maths doesn't always really add up, but unfortunately the demographic picture of the country explains it all.

As Jadranka Dozan/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 10th of April, 2019, at this time of year, official data on employment levels tends to heavily reflect the huge levels of seasonality Croatia's labour market is affected by with every passing year, of course, this is primarily owing to the increased employment levels of seasonal workers before the start of the main tourist season in summer. The latest figures from HZMO (Croatian Pension Insurance Fund) from March show some growth in the number of insured persons, both on a monthly and an annual basis, with positive annual rates having continued to some degree or another since March 2015, while monthly growth began in only in February, according to analysts from Raiffeisen Bank (RBA).

Last month, the number of insured persons increased by 14,000, to a total of 1.52 million people, and it is realistic to expect that the number of insured persons will increase even more owing to the opening up of seasonal positions in preparation for the tourist season, an economic trend which could easily continue until September. When compared to March last year, the number of insured persons more than 32,000 or 2.2 percent higher.

Along with the pretty positive indicators from HZMO's labour market information, the Croatian Bureau of Statistic's labour force surveys are more in line with the process of the huge problem of the mass emigration of Croatia's fit, healthy, working-age population and the demographic of an aging general population. The latest survey, in which the last quarter of 2018 was included, indicates an annual drop in Croatia's working-age population from 3.54 to 3.52 million.

Those who are economically active in Croatia, whether they're already working or actively looking for a job, numbered just 1.8 million at the end of 2018, which is 42,000 people or 2.3 percent less than the year before. Despite the positive economic data, the activity rate dropped from 52 to 51 percent. Activity and employment rates have, at least for some time now, been indicative of much more than just the general rate of unemployment. This applies in particular to activities that are needed in more economically developed EU countries, and jobs that tend to be given to (highly) skilled staff.

Economists have been warning for a long time that recent developments in reduce the potential for growth in Croatia in the long term. The number of unemployed people in Croatia in the last quarter of the year, according to the results of the survey conducted in the last quarter of 2018, dropped when compared to the previous year by 46,000 people, or 23 percent, to 154,000 people. At the same time, however, the number of employees increased only very slightly, by 0.3 percent, meaning just 5,000 people more, to 1.64 million. In the fourth quarter, the activity rate and the employment rate recorded lower values ​​(51 percent and 46.6 percent), according to RBA.

In the last quarter of 2018, the numbers of economically inactive people older than fifteen increased by just one percent. Finally, the year ended with the fall of Croatia's unemployment rate to 8.3 percent, which is also the first drop below 10 percent since 2009, the year which followed the 2008 recession, but unfortunately this is partly a consequence of Croatia's negative demographic trend.

Although Croatia's growth in employment is of course very encouraging, analysts warn that it should be noted that the number of employees has been growing at a mild rate for the last five years, and that the average number of employees is still 6.5 percent lower than in before the crisis back in 2008. Overall, they conclude, Croatia's labour market remains very fragile and is burdened with some extremely serious structural problems, especially in terms of the total mismatch of supply and demand, long-term unemployment, and the falling number of working-age people for the ninth year in a row.

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Click here for the original article by Jadranka Dozan for Poslovni Dnevnik