(Zagreb) Croatia has lost more than 9% of its inhabitants in ten years, according to the final results of the last census published Friday in this Balkan country, and described as a “disaster” by experts.
Posted at 10:18 a.m.
The European Union member country has 3.8 million people against 4.2 million a decade ago, a decline of 9.25%, according to the Croatian statistics office.
“It’s an incredible disaster for Croatia,” demographer Stjepan Sterc told N1 television.
250,000 Croats left
The central and eastern regions of Croatia, already hard hit by the war of independence in the 1990s, are the most affected by demographic decline.
The country has long suffered from a haemorrhage of its inhabitants due to a sluggish economy, corruption and a lack of prospects for young people. Emigration has also been boosted by Croatia’s entry into the EU in 2013. More than 250,000 Croats have since left to live in other member countries, especially Germany, Austria and Ireland, according to figures. officials.
According to UN projections, Croatia will have only 2.5 million inhabitants by the end of the century.
In December, the Croatian government announced bonuses of up to 26,000 euros to encourage expatriates living in other EU countries to return to the country.