The Census of population, households and apartments in the Republic of Croatia in 2021 (Croatian: Popis stanovništva, kućanstva i stanova u Republici Hrvatskoj 2021. godine; shortened: Census 2021, Popis 2021.) was the 4th decennial Croatian census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was August 31, 2021.[1] This was the first Croatian census to offer options to online self-numeration, in addition to the paper response form used for previous censuses. The census was taken during the COVID-19 pandemic, which affected its administration. The census recorded a resident population of 3,871,833 in the twenty counties and the City of Zagreb, a decrease of 9.64 percent, or 413,056 over the preceding decade. The fall rate was the biggest ever recorded.[2]

2021 Census of population, households and apartments in the Republic of Croatia

← 2011 August 31, 2021

General information
CountryCroatia
Topics
Census topics
  • Population
  • Household
  • Housing and other residential units
AuthorityCroatian Bureau of Statistics
Websitedzs.gov.hr
Results
Total population3,871,833 (Decrease 9.64%)
Most populous ​stateZagreb (767,131)
Least populous ​stateLika-Senj county (42,748)

Questions and data uses

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The Census collects the following data:[3]

  1. Population
    • surname and first name, gender, personal identification number (PIN), date of birth, marital status; the type of living community in which a person lives; number of live births; place of residence/residence; presence in the census settlement at the time of the Census; reason for absence/presence; time of absence/presence; time of intention of absence/presence; place of absence/place of residence; birthplace; place of residence of the mother at the time of the person's birth; the place from which the person immigrated and the year and reason for immigrating; the foreign country where the person resided for a year or longer, the year of moving to the Republic of Croatia and the reason for staying abroad; citizenship; nationality (national affiliation); mother tongue; religious affiliation; achieved education; attending school/studies; economic activity, position in employment; interest; activities; main sources of livelihood; place of work/school; frequency of returning to the place of residence; means of travel to work/school/study
  2. Households
    • relative and family composition of the household; type of household; the basis on which the household uses the apartment; area of used agricultural land and ownership of livestock or poultry
  3. Housing and other residential units
    • type and manner of use of the residential unit; apartment ownership; surface area of the apartment; number of rooms in the apartment; kitchen, bathroom and toilet in the apartment; types of installations in the apartment (water supply, sewage, electricity, gas installations); method of heating the apartment; type of energy source; air conditioning; type of building in which the apartment is located; the number of apartments in the building where the apartment is located, the location of the apartment in the building; year of construction of the building in which the apartment is located.

Timeline

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  • 3 April 2021: Law on the Census of Population, Households and Apartments in the Republic of Croatia in 2021 entered into force[3]
  • 13–26 September 2021: citizens could be registered independently using the census questionnaire in electronic form that was available on the e-Citizens portal, simultaneously listing the household and the apartment in which they live[1]
  • 27 September – 14 November 2021: enumerators used electronic devices to enumerate all census units that were not self-enumerated and controlled the data collected by self-enumeration [1]
  • 22 September 2022: the final results of the Census 2021 have been published[2]

County rankings

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2021 Croatian census by counties

A population decline was recorded in each of 20 counties and the City of Zagreb. The biggest decline in apsolute numbers was in Osijek-Baranja County, which lost 47,006 inhabitants, while the relative decrease was the strongest in Vukovar-Srijem and Sisak-Moslavina County, at 20.3 and 19.0 percent respectively.[2] The 2020 Petrinja earthquake caused a lot of damage in Sisak-Moslavina County. On the other hand, Zagreb had a large influx of citizens from other parts of Croatia, giving it the smallest relative change.

Population and population change in Croatia by county[2]
Rank County Population as of
2021 census
Population as of
2011 census
Change Percent
change
1   Zagreb 767,131 790,017   22,886   2.9
2   Split-Dalmatia 423,407 454,798   31,391   6.9
3   Zagreb County 299,985 317,606   17,621   5.5
4   Primorje-Gorski Kotar 265,419 296,195   30,776   10.4
5   Osijek-Baranja 258,026 305,032   47,006   15.4
6   Istria 195,237 208,055   12,818   6.2
7   Zadar 159,766 170,017   10,251   6.0
8   Varaždin 159,487 175,951   16,464   9.4
9   Vukovar-Srijem 143,113 179,521   36,408   20.3
10   Sisak-Moslavina 139,603 172,439   32,836   19.0
11   Brod-Posavina 130,267 158,575   28,308   17.9
12   Krapina-Zagorje 120,702 132,892   12,190   9.2
13   Dubrovnik-Neretva 115,564 122,568   7,004   5.7
14   Karlovac 112,195 128,899   16,704   13.0
15   Međimurje 105,250 113,804   8,554   7.5
16   Bjelovar-Bilogora 101,879 119,764   17,885   14.9
17   Koprivnica-Križevci 101,221 115,584   14,363   12.4
18   Šibenik-Knin 96,381 109,375   12,994   11.9
19   Virovitica-Podravina 70,368 84,836   14,468   17.1
20   Požega-Slavonia 64,084 78,034   13,950   17.9
21   Lika-Senj 42,748 50,927   8,179   16.1
  Croatia 3,871,833 4,284,889   413,056   9.6

City rankings

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2021 Census showed decrease of population in all ten biggest cities with Zagreb staying the largest and followed by Split, most populated city in the south, Rijeka, most populated city in the west and Osijek, most populated city in the east.[2]

Rank City County Population Region
1 Zagreb   City of Zagreb 769,944 City of Zagreb
2 Split   Split-Dalmatia 161,312 Adriatic Croatia
3 Rijeka   Primorje-Gorski Kotar 108,622 Adriatic Croatia
4 Osijek   Osijek-Baranja 96,848 Pannonian Croatia
5 Zadar   Zadar 70,829 Adriatic Croatia
6 Velika Gorica   Zagreb 61,198 Northern Croatia
7 Pula   Istria 52,411 Adriatic Croatia
8 Slavonski Brod   Brod-Posavina 50,039 Pannonian Croatia
9 Karlovac   Karlovac 49,594 Pannonian Croatia
10 Varaždin   Varaždin 43,999 Northern Croatia

Population by ethnicity and religion

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Ten biggest nations in Croatia

  Croats (91.63%)
  Serbs (3.20%)
  Bosniaks (0.62%)
  Roma (0.46%)
  Albanians (0.36%)
  Italians (0.36%)
  Hungarians (0.27%)
  Czechs (0.20%)
  Slovenians (0.20%)
  Slovaks (0.10%)
  Regional affiliation (0.33%)
  Declared religion (0.15%)
  Not classified (0.08%)
  Not declared (0.58%)
  Unknown (0.69%)
  Other (0.77%)

Census information with a number of Croats and 22 official recognized minorities of Croatia.[2]

Ethnicity Population Share
Croats 3,547,614 91.63%
Serbs 123,892 3.20%
Bosniaks 24,131 0.62%
Roma 17,980 0.46%
Albanians 13,817 0.36%
Italians 13,763 0.36%
Hungarians 10,315 0.27%
Czechs 7,862 0.20%
Slovenians 7,729 0.20%
Slovaks 3,688 0.10%
Macedonians 3,555 0.09%
Montenegrins 3,127 0.08%
Germans 3,034 0.08%
Ukrainians 1,905 0.05%
Russians 1,481 0.04%
Ruthenians 1,343 0.03%
Poles 657 0.02%
Jews 410 0.01%
Turks 404 0.01%
Austrians 365 0.01%
Romanians 337 0.01%
Bulgarians 262 0.01%
Vlachs 22 0.00%
Others 13,196 0.34%
Regional affiliation 12,712 0.33%
Declared religion 5,874 0.15%
Not classified 3,108 0.08%
Not declared 22,388 0.58%
Unknown 26,862 0.69%

Census also included religion with a connection to nations of Croatia.[2]

Religion/ Ethnicity Total Catholics Orthodox Protestants Other Christians Muslims Jews Oriental religions Other religions, movements
and life philosophies
Agnostics and sceptics Not religious and atheists Not declared Unknown
Total 3,871,833 3,057,735 128,395 9,956 186,960 50,981 573 3,392 37,066 64,961 182,188 66,581 83,045
Croats 3,547,614 2,988,051 15,980 5,142 179,159 10,841 301 2,264 33,999 57,216 150,430 51,147 53,084
Albanians 13,817 5,311 11 3 242 7,421 - 4 79 80 235 143 288
Austrians 365 180 7 16 15 4 2 2 9 15 75 19 21
Bosniaks 24,131 255 158 9 37 21,119 - 5 87 367 1,113 407 574
Bulgarians 262 46 114 7 16 3 - - 4 13 40 10 9
Montenegrins 3,127 257 1,078 10 77 101 - 4 30 251 992 139 188
Czechs 7,862 6,487 12 152 224 - - 10 53 159 507 128 130
Hungarians 10,315 6,399 64 2,414 325 2 1 5 66 130 453 219 237
Macedonians 3,555 399 1,889 26 133 200 - 6 37 130 479 121 135
Germans 3,034 1,579 36 417 102 18 2 13 20 80 422 149 196
Poles 657 518 2 - 30 - - 1 10 14 53 14 15
Romani 17,980 10,093 2,406 51 811 3,287 - 3 90 20 245 312 662
Romanians 337 102 114 5 39 4 2 - 4 7 29 7 24
Russians 1,481 173 790 3 49 9 - 4 14 42 229 71 97
Ruthenians 1,343 1,098 40 8 62 - - 3 6 24 56 16 30
Slovaks 3,688 2,397 11 872 107 1 1 2 23 38 132 60 44
Slovenians 7,729 5,151 32 47 319 13 2 9 62 307 1,186 255 346
Serbs 123,892 2,042 101,250 192 2,076 38 7 67 468 2,342 11,406 1,650 2,354
Italians 13,763 10,027 20 26 767 12 4 16 102 336 1,473 475 505
Turks 404 2 2 - 7 305 - 1 5 8 26 26 22
Ukrainians 1,905 952 574 32 85 1 - 3 9 30 107 42 70
Vlachs 22 3 4 - - - - 1 2 5 7 - -
Jews 410 9 2 - 5 - 210 1 7 42 97 14 23
Other 13,196 3,088 806 419 508 3,251 29 753 313 481 2,011 770 767
Regional affiliation 12,712 7,967 78 15 558 31 1 45 345 591 2,098 473 510
Declared religion 5,874 475 1,266 6 79 3,436 - 5 55 64 243 100 145
Not classified 3,108 238 50 15 104 19 1 64 698 351 1,115 301 152
Not declared 22,388 1,999 1,131 44 741 615 4 71 355 1,565 6,012 9,368 483
Unknown 26,862 2,437 468 25 283 250 6 30 114 253 917 145 21,934

Population by first language

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Croatian citizens by first language, including non-official recognized Serbo-Croatian and Croato-Serbian:[2]

Language Population Share
Croatian 3,687,735 95,25%
Serbian 45,004 1,16%
Bosnian 17,531 0,45%
Romani 15,269 0,39%
Albanian 13,503 0,35%
Italian 12,890 0,33%
Serbo-Croatian 8,182 0,21%
Slovenian 7,620 0,20%
Hungarian 7,218 0,19%
Czech 4,915 0,13%
Croato-Serbian 4,278 0,11%
German 3,358 0,09%
Macedonian 3,334 0,09%
Slovak 2,859 0,07%
Russian 2,081 0,05%
Ukrainian 1,198 0,03%
Ruthenian 1,011 0,03%
Montenegrin 943 0,02%
Polish 730 0,02%
Romanian 671 0,02%
Turkish 368 0,01%
Bulgarian 263 0,01%
Hebrew 82 0,00%
Vlach (Romanian or Istro-Romanian) 40 0,00%
Others 9,910 0,26%
Unknown 20,840 0,54%

Population by sex and age structure

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Population pyramid of 2021 Croatian Census

Sex and age structure of the population of Croatia:[2]

Age and sex All Men Women
Total 3,871,833 1,865,129 2,006,704
0–4 175,535 90,245 85,290
5–9 181,445 93,311 88,134
10–14 195,436 100,216 95,220
15–19 188,729 97,228 91,501
20–24 208,852 107,102 101,750
25–29 214,023 109,139 104,884
30–34 227,551 114,778 112,773
35–39 255,617 128,398 127,219
40–44 267,349 134,213 133,136
45–49 260,146 130,035 130,111
50–54 260,056 127,953 132,103
55–59 279,504 134,655 144,849
60–65 288,351 136,338 152,013
66–69 279,106 129,728 149,378
70–74 228,612 100,506 128,106
75–79 146,855 59,065 87,790
80–84 122,719 44,672 78,047
85–89 67,249 21,206 46,043
90–94 21,019 5,604 15,415
>95 3,679 737 2,942

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Pitanja i odgovori" [Questions and answers]. DZS (in Croatian). Retrieved 5 February 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Objavljeni konačni rezultati Popisa 2021" [The final results of the Census 2021 have been published]. DZS (in Croatian). 22 September 2022. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Zakon o popisu stanovništva, kućanstava i stanova u Republici Hrvatskoj 2021. godine" [Law on the Census of Population, Households and Apartments in the Republic of Croatia in 2021]. zakon.hr (in Croatian). 3 April 2021.