February the 12th, 2021 - A lot can be said for the grass being greener on the other side, and there can be no argument against the fact that Croatia has terribly neglected the eastern part of the country economically and in other ways, but for some, it takes actually leaving to see that the grass is green wherever you water it. Mato Topic from Slavonia experienced precisely that and decided to return home from Germany.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Bruno Lipej writes, Young Slavonian Mato Topic returned back home to Croatia a year and a half ago after spending three years living and working in Germany. He says that his acquaintances spoke to him in amazement: "Well, what are you going to do?" or, perhaps somewhat more honestly, "You're the only one coming back, what an idiot you are…"

He knew that he wouldn't have the standard of living and the style of an orderly life he had become used to in the German border town of Lorrach, located near Basel, when back home in Croatia, but his heart was aching for home.

"I can't explain it to you, in Germany I basically lacked nothing at all, but every time I crossed the Croatian border it was as if I was starting to breathe a pair of full lungs," he told Vecernji list. To make the story more interesting still, family wasn't the reason he left, as he he left behind his parents, brother and sister in Germany.

Until going to Germany, everything was more or less typical in Mato Topic's life in Slavonia. Both of his parents worked, but the family of five from Cepin didn't live in abundance with their Croatian salaries. Along with the daily sacrifices and efforts in the Cepin yard which belonged to Mato Topic's family, a new house was built. However, it seemed to his parents that the prospects werent' great for them or the children, and that things would simply stagnate. In 2013, when Croatia joined the European Union, they decided to leave Croatia and went to Germany.

"I knew that I'd really have to roll up my sleeves and that in Croatia I'd have to work much harder for a lot less money," said Mato Topic, who decided to return not to Slavonia, but to the far more prosperous capital of Zagreb. He wasn't unprepared for a starting salary of 3,500 kuna working in a call centre, though.

“In the meantime, I progressed, I became a deputy leader, I also led some training… Money is important, especially when you're young and have a lot of wishes and plans. But it's definitely not the most important thing. I was in Germany despite feeling like a total foreigner there. I realised that I didn’t want to wait for my annual holiday to come home every year, nor to build my life and start a family in the long run in a foreign country. My parents supported me,'' he said.

"With all the shortcomings and irregularities in Croatia, and even injustices, I have confidence in Croatia. I just feel that way,'' the hopeful Mato Topic told Vecernji list.

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February the 8th, 2021 - The Croatian demographic picture hasn't improved, and the Croatian population is only getting older.

As Gojko Drljaca/Novac writes, since the start of a new wave of emigration back in 2013 when Croatia joined the European Union, Slavonia, Sisak-Moslavina, Lika-Senj and Šibenik-Knin counties have been all but devastated, and earthquakes and even a pandemic have occurred. They will only make the situation worse, both in terms of domestic and cross-border migration. The elderly Croatian population is particularly vulnerable.

The pandemic only exposed all the sensibilities of an ''old'' Croatia. What can stop the emigration of the Croaian population from the areas affected by the earthquake now? How can we bring life back to the hinterland of Split-Dalmatia County?  Is there a single recipe for Croatian demographic renewal at all, or should a whole set of measures be applied and implemented at all administrative levels? These are all problems and issues that were touched on in the panel discussion "Aging and Emigration" with Sanja Klempic Bogada, scientific advisor at the Centre for Migration and Demographic Research of the Institute for Migration and Ethnic Studies, and Kresimir Ivanda, a scientist from the Zagreb Faculty of Economics. The panel discussion "Aging and Emigration" is part of the Croatia of the New Generation project.

Aging and emigration are two factors that predetermine the demographic picture of Croatia in the future.

''We're at the top of the age indicator of the population, we can say that we are a very old nation not only in Europe but also in the world. Just over 20 percent of the Croatian population is 65 or older. Aging is a global trend, and not just in Europe as the oldest continent. Aging is a process that happens significantly faster in less developed countries. In Croatia, the negative aspects of aging are often highlighted, thus creating a rather negative image of older people. However, people over the age of 65 are very often resourceful and financially independent. Not all seniors are a huge burden to the state. In fact, this problem was generated by the fact that the state pursued the policy of early retirement and, regardless of the demographic picture, created a large number of retirees who left the labour market prematurely,'' warned Klempic Bogadi, while Kresimir Ivanda emphasised the impact of the age of the Croatian population:

''There's been a change in spending, changes in the way of investing in the areas which become depopulated and increased allocations for the costs of the pension, healthcare and social system. We're seeing a large shift in consumption, both in a public and a private sense, towards the elderly population. We have, therefore, on the one hand, increased costs, and on the other hand we have a changed structure of consumption. This problem of the nation's aging is linked to the increasingly pronounced problem of emigration.

Today, the consequences of emigration are much more visible and stronger than they were back in the waves which occurred in Croatia 50-70 years ago. We used to have a much larger share of a young population, that is, labour reserves that we no longer have today. In the 1960s, there were five or more employees per retiree. Today, when we have only 1.4 employees per retiree, it's clear that every single emigrant is a bigger economic problem than they used to be. If we look at the scale of emigration, then and today, we're somewhere around the total number, but today's emigration will have more serious consequences,'' warned Ivanda.

Emigrants are a heterogeneous group, Klempic Bogadi added, but in principle it can be said that in the 1960s and 1970s, most people left rural areas and were mostly made up of unskilled labour.

''The former state somewhat limited the emigration of the well-educated Croatian population. However, in that period in the 1960s and 1970s, Croatia was filled with immigrants from Bosnia and Herzegovina, who made up for the loss of the population. Today, people of different profiles are emigrating; highly educated people, and young people, but also older individuals. Croatia no longer has a "demographic stock" to import from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Demographic trends there are also negative and we can no longer count on solving part of the problem through migration from that neighbouring country. In addition, today's emigrants are different than they were back in the sixties because they only used to leave for temporary work, often coming back. The countries that received them calculated that they would stay only temporarily, they didn't try to integrate them. A significant part of these people still remained abroad, but today it's impossible to say how many emigrants plan to return at all when they leave. It's unclear what the long-term consequences will be,'' stated Klempic Bogadi.

Not everything about Croatian population issues is so black…

''Foreign currency remittances are growing from year to year. This means that connections are being maintained, and these remittances have an effect. Remittances are a kind of protective social network. After the crisis, from 2009 to 2013, these remittances had a very favourable effect on the Croatian economy, but during the expansion of the economy they often have the opposite effect because they usually go into current consumption. They may even slow down the employment of those who really do depend on these remittances. This has also been observed in other remittance-dependent countries, such as Mexico,'' Ivanda explained.

In a number of aging developed nations, the question is beginning to arise as to whether gross domestic product is an adequate measure of a country's performance. How does GDP measure success if a population which is too old limits growth?

''We can't measure everything in society through economic profit. Countries like Japan or Denmark have long since realised that they must adapt their economies to the needs of the elderly,'' said Klempic Bogadi, who sees the great potential of the so-called silver economy.

''We don't have too many old people, but we do have too few young people. It’s fantastic to live longer than we ever have before in history, but it will bring costs and challenges, and GDP will be hard to replace soon. Even with the aging Croatian population, GDP has a comparison function. We are, very old, as is Germany, but again we have very different levels of GDP,'' Ivanda said.

One of the key problems arising from the combined problems of an aging Croatian population is the sustainability of the pension system.

''Croatia, along with Italy, has the shortest expected working life. The average man is expected to have only 35 years of experience, and they go off o work in Sweden and the Netherlands for more than 42 years. Life expectancy has been extended and working life has been shortened. The key problem is therefore people leaving the labour market prematurely,'' stated Klempic Bogadi.

''Not only do we retire too early, but we enter the labour market too late. Between the ages of thirty and forty-five, we're comparable in employment to the rest of Europe, but not up to the age of thirty. In addition, the picture of the labour market after the age of 55 is particularly worrying… Approximately half of pensions are spent on full old-age pensions. All the others are some other categories. That isn't something that has only been occurring recently. That has been going on for about sixty years now. It isn't a solution if you push three people to retire and hire only one younger person,'' added Ivanda, who believes that in the future, we'll have more highly educated people in the labour market because they usually work for a longer time period.

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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 28th, 2021 - 2020 might have been a terrible year for a multitude of reasons, but for Croatia's future gaming centre, Novska, there has been some good news if we're looking at a previously unfavourable demographic picture. The Novska baby boom took place in 2020.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, finally some good news has come out of earthquake-stricken Sisak-Moslavina County. The highest number of children were born in Novska last year in comparison to the last six years. A total of 138 babies were born during the so-called Novska baby boom, as many as twenty more than were born in 2019. While Novska, where many families are arriving has done exceptionally well, they’re not the only ones to have recorded a baby boom in Croatia in 2020.

Kindergartens are full, RTL news reports. In the last three years, two such facilities have been expanded and two more have been built, but even that will not be enough. In the autumn of 2020, 278 children were enrolled, which is the highest in the last 45 years! There are now 350 of them.

Preliminary data shows that in as many as thirteen counties across the whole of Croatia, the pandemic-dominated 2020 was actually a very fruitful year in terms of births.

Novska has become the centre of the blooming Croatian gaming industry, offices are being opened there, and in addition to children, new games are also being made. Young people and families from all over Croatia are coming to live here, and yes, that’s why Novska managed to see the arrival of twenty more babies in 2020 than it did the year before, a total of 138. In six or seven years, they will have one whole class of children more.

As previously touched on, according to initial data, another thirteen Croatian counties can boast of having more babies born in 2020 than one year earlier. According to county-level data, Croatia is now richer by 800 children.

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January the 21st, 2021 - The Zagreb population has recorded growth, exceeding the figure of 800,000. Only one other county in the country has experienced similar population growth in the last ten years, and that is Istria County.

As Ljubica Gataric/Vecernji list writes, only has the Zagreb population and that of Istria County increased in the past decade, while all other Croatian counties have lost more than two hundred thousand inhabitants. That's like a city the size of Split or the entire Istria County disappearing in a mere ten years.

Istria has seen a slight increase of only a thousand inhabitants, while the Zagreb population has grown, taking in about 17,000 people from the surrounding areas and growing to 807,000. According to the CBS, the Zagreb population surpassed the so-called magic number of 800,000 inhabitants back in 2016 and has been growing slowly since then thanks to the fact that it is the strongest economic centre in the entire country.

Earthquake-stricken Sisak-Moslavina County lost a concerning 27,000 inhabitants, Osijek-Baranja lost an even more worrying 33,000, Primorje-Gorski Kotar lost 12,000, and close to zero - with a deficit of about 900 people, is the tourist Mecca of Dubrovnik-Neretva County. 

Until recently, the demographic depopulation of rural areas and smaller Croatian towns created an army of unemployed people who were reserve labour. The long-running economic crisis and unemployment created the illusion of an abundance of human labour potential. For decades now, high unemployment rates across the country have created secure labour reserves. That's why relatively low salaries were possible, especially in occupations which only required lower-level qualifications.

''With the influx of fewer and fewer working-age people, further aggravated by emigration, those aforementioned labour reserves have dried up in just a few years,'' said demographers Anđelko Akrap and Kresimir Ivanda in a large economic analysis of Croatian counties, prepared by the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK) for the fourth year in a row.

''All relevant demographic indicators show that the inflow to the labour market is decreasing from year to year. Thus, economic policy makers need to take into account the almost progressive narrowing of the demographic framework of labour supply. Continuing the current demographic trends, by 2051, the number of working age population (15 to 64 years) in Croatia will decrease by more than a million inhabitants, the number of young people (0-14 years) will decrease by about 273 thousand and, conversely, the number those aged 65 and over will increase by about 185,000, the demographers say, concluding that Croatia quite simply cannot count on economically sustainable development.

Actual Croatian GDP values ​​show large differences between various economic groups, countries and even regions. More specifically, if we look at the European Union as a whole, Germany, the strongest economy, accounts for approximately 25 percent of total EU GDP and is as many as 260 times larger than Malta, which is economically the weakest. Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands, the five economically strongest members, generate as much as 70 percent of the EU's total GDP, so it can be concluded that this is a high concentration of production of goods and services in a small number of member states.

Croatia is among the economically weaker member states in terms of actual economic strength, ie in terms of the size of its GDP (from 2019) it ranks 21st and participates in the total GDP of the EU with only 0.4 percent. Comparing the GDP of Croatian counties provides a rather similar picture of such a view of the EU. The economically strongest City of Zagreb, according to the latest available data for the year 2017, generates as much as 34 percent of Croatia's total GDP and is almost forty times economically stronger than the typically neglected Lika-Senj County, which generates only 0.9 percent of Croatia's GDP.

This high concentration is also noticeable when looking at the five economically strongest Croatian counties, which together generate 63 percent of total GDP, while at the same time the five economically weakest counties together generate only 6.6 percent of national GDP. Thus, there are large regional differences to be seen in terms of general economic strength, but Croatia doesn't differ in that sense from a number of other countries.

The economically weaker Croatian counties were most deeply affected by the ongoing coronavirus crisis, especially the five Slavonian counties and the previously mentioned Lika-Senj county. Thus, the data shows that these six counties generated 14.2 percent of national GDP way back in 2008, 12.7 percent back in 2014, and 12.3 percent according to the latest data for 2017.

When it comes to 2017, it can be noted that the most dynamic growth was achieved in three counties of Adriatic Croatia, namely Zadar, Sibenik-Knin and Dubrovnik-Neretva counties, which can be largely attributed to good tourism performance and little else.

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January the 18th, 2021 - The Croatian demographic picture has sadly been deteriorating for many years, with Eastern Croatian areas such as Slavonia seeing people leave en masse in search of better futures in European countries like the UK, Ireland and Germany. Since Croatia joined the EU back in July 2013, this trend has unfortunately only increased as borders were suddenly opened and the need for work permits generally ceased. The Istrian city of Porec, however, recorded an increase even during the tremendously difficult year of 2020. Porec newborns increased by eight percent.

As Morski writes, in what was a deeply challenging pandemic-dominated 2020, this beautiful Istrian city distributed 155 grants for Porec newborns, as much as eight percent more than in the previous year, for which 232,500 kuna was paid from the city budget, equalling 1,500 kuna per Porec newborn.

Although the official data on the exact number of Porec newborns from back in 2019 isn't yet known, the data on paid benefits shows that 12 more children were born last year in that city than were born in the year before, which is a very good indicator. It's worth mentioning that not only is the growing number of Porec newborns encouraging, but the influx of people moving from elsewhere to Porec is also excellent.

The above means that the need for the placement of children in the city's kindergartens is growing day by day, so the opening of new such institutions and the employment of new people is very well accepted.

The construction of the third kindergarten and nursery in the past three years alone in Porec is now underway, and after the opening of new primary schools in Zbandaj and Finida, the former school building in Veli Maj was converted into a new nursery, while European Union (EU) funds were used for the building of the former community centre and nursery in Dracevac.

Regional kindergartens in Varvari and Baderna were constructed back in earlier years, and this future practice in Zbandaj once again continues the good practice of opening preschools in smaller places near the homes of young families, which is very well accepted by both users and those from the education and child care profession. The kindergarten in Zbandaj will be the regional department of the "Radost/Joy" kindergarten from Porec, and it will be able to accept a total of 64 children from early to preschool age.

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October the 17th, 2020 - Demography has always presented issue in Croatia. From political issues driving people away from the country to the economic ones which threaten stability today, the words ''demographic crisis'' aren't unusual in the Croatian media. The coronavirus pandemic hasn't helped the situation in the slightest, and experts believe that yet another demographic crisis faces Croatia over the next couple of years.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 16th of October, 2020, the emigration of Croatia's residents to Austria is expected to grow in the next two years, as Croatian citizens living here in Croatia are searching the term "Bewerbung" (job application in German) on the Internet more and more intensively, equal to the amount of searches for "job application/zamolba za posao" in Croatian, which means they're preparing or at least seriously considering emigrating to Austria and Germany.

More concerning still, every fifth job seeker in the Republic of Croatia inquires about a job abroad, according to a report from Vecernji list.

When it comes to the Croatian emigrants already living in Germany, the terms "learning German", "Mass in Croatian", "divorce" and "pension" are often searched, while the more promising terms "investing in Croatia", "return to Croatia" are very rarely sought. Nor are the names of historic Croatian names from across all fields such as Stjepan Radic, Miroslav Krleza, Tin Ujevic.

This data was drawn from a piece of research entitled "Monitoring migration with approaches to digital demography - What Facebook and Google Trends can tell us about Croatian migration" undertaken by the Croatian Catholic University (HKS), which was supported by its partner institution, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.

The first such research showed that the data from Facebook and Google Trends match the official data, and that when planning migration, Croatian emigrants most often search for the term "job" and "job application", then "resume". The degree of integration of Croatian emigrants into German society can also be monitored through digital tools.

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As Novac writes on the 25th of September, 2020, a new round of tax reforms with changes that should take effect early next year will bring a reduction in corporate income tax rates, but a great opportunity for them is to withdraw money from European Union funds, said Finance Minister Zdravko Maric on Friday.

Ahead of the meeting on tax changes, which is usually organised at this time of year in the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK), Minister Zdravko Maric said that he was carrying a "new message of tax relief" in the form of reducing income tax rates, noting that this also opens up a great opportunity for the use of European Union funds designed to help the economy fight the consequences of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

''What we're offering in the fifth round of reforms is the lowering of the income tax rate, I think that's more than enough, but I certainly want to hear what you want in terms of parafiscal levies and other burdens,'' said Minister Zdravko Maric, adding that it turned out that lowering tax rates ultimately brings in more to the state budget, but that there's a lower limit and as such it can't just be reduced indefinitely. He warned that the coronavirus crisis will pass, but that we'll be left with a demographic problem that will remain a burning issue.

According to earlier announcements, in the new round of tax reforms, income tax rates would be reduced from 36 percent to 30 percent and from 24 to 20 percent at the beginning of next year. There are also plans to reduce the corporate income tax rate from 12 down to 10 percent, for small and medium-sized companies, ie for all enterprises with an annual income of up to 7.5 million kuna.

Regarding the reduction of VAT rates on all food, Minister Zdravko Maric reiterated that this is part of the government's programme, as is the abolition of property sales/transfer tax, but that the government hasn't committed to any specific date when these measures should take effect.

HGK President Luka Burilovic said that businessmen were "extremely interested" in any tax relief.

He announced that he would ask Minister Zdravko Maric for measures to provide additional liquidity, especially over the next six months, as well as to speed up the procedures dealt with by HAMAG-BICRO in HBOR.

The head of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce also announced talks with the Ministry of Labour and trade unions on amendments to the Labour Law which will start next week. That law, he said, is outdated, and businessmen believe it should be more flexible. Flexibility, as he pointed out, shouldn't be feared by good workers.

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The Croatian demographic crisis is continuing to bite just as hard as it has ever done, with more and more Croatian youth abandoning the country and taking advantage of Croatia's EU membership for a better life and more economic stability in Western Europe, many feel the government has simple forgotten about them.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marta Duic writes on the 12th of March, 2020, in the Croatian capital of Zagreb at an EU conference, fifty experts discussed both opportunities and challenges.

On Wednesday, Zagreb hosted a two-day meeting where the topic of not only Croatian youth, but youth from across the bloc was discussed. The meeting of the leaders of the Youth Authorities' Administrations in Zagreb is the third in a series of such meetings of the presiding countries of Romania, Finland and Croatia, and a symbolic handover of the presidency to the German delegation was organised at the end of the meeting.

Within the main theme of the meeting, officials discussed the challenges facing today's generations of young people, including disillusioned Croatian youth, and the need to ensure equal life opportunities for all young people. Although the topic of youth in rural and remote areas is one of the priorities of Croatia's EU Council Presidency, the discussion also included other current issues.

Otherwise, the three-day conference entitled ''Youth Opportunities in Rural Areas - How to Ensure Rural Sustainability in EU Countries'' organised by the Ministry of Demography, Family, Youth and Social Policy brought together youth representatives from EU member states, delegates of the European Commission and the Council of the European Union, national and international youth organisations and researchers and scientists, as well as youth decision makers.

In her opening speech, Vesna Bedekovic, Minister for Demography, Family, Youth and Social Policy, stressed that Croatian youth and others across the EU living in rural and remote areas needed to be recognised as a priority of Croatia's EU Council Presidency because of the growing inequality between young people living in the countryside and those living in cities.

She added that the desire is to encourage young people to participate in democratic life, to increase their involvement in society and to ensure that as many young people as possible contribute to the formulation of youth policies. The conclusions of the conference will serve to shape the documents regarding future youth policies.

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The selling of Croatian houses for a mere one kuna is one of the many demographic measures taken by municipal authorities in an attempt to retain and attract young families to their area.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 10th of March, 2020, in Podravina, a real hit was the possibility for people to to buy real estate and construction land for the much more than acceptable price tag of a mere one kuna, HRT reports.

Inquiries have been coming from all Croatian regions, as well as from neighbouring countries. The Croatian demographic picture is bleak, and with more and more of the working population leaving for lives elsewhere in the EU, the move might just be enough to keep hold of a few who remain as yet undecided.

After visiting about twenty properties in the municipality of Legrad, the picturesque village at the mouth of the Mura along the Drava river, the Ros family decided that the house in Antolovac would be their new home. They bought it today for just one kuna.

''We chose this house, the house is in really good condition. We also visited the surrounding villages, but this is the best place for us,'' said Osman Ros.

An acquaintance found out about this possibility. The condition is that those purchasing the property must be under forty years of age and that they will remain in Legrad for the next fifteen years. For the Strmecki family with seven children and an eighth on the way, the opportunity to purchase Croatian houses for such a low price is not to be missed.

''Our goal is as it is because we have both girls and the boys, and it's important for them to have their own rooms,'' says Valentina Strmecki.

In the attic of one of the houses, Viktor Holcman will get his room. It was bought by his mother thanks to a municipal grant of almost 30,000 kuna.

''The municipality has already provided assistance. A request was made, the request was granted within two months. The money was there soon enough and everything was in full swing,'' says Paula Holcman.

In addition to Croatian houses owned by the municipality of Legrad, construction land can be purchased for one kuna. The municipality subsidises the purchase of houses in its area for natural persons with up to a maximum of 35,000 kuna, or provides 25,000 kuna for the renovation of existing ones. They are subsidising the kindergarten, a primary school has been built, and nursery is being built. But that's not all.

''We have the lowest unemployment rate in the county, given the proximity of the larger areas of Koprivnica, Ludbreg, Prelog. We have virtually no unemployed people,'' says Legrad Mayor Ivan Sabolic.

As stated, the possibility to purchase Croatian houses for such little money has attracted numerous enquiries from all over Croatia and even from neighbouring Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

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