Demographics of Croatia - Population

Population

With a population of 4.29 million in 2011, Croatia ranks 125th in the world by population. Its population density is 75.8 inhabitants per square kilometre. The overall life expectancy in Croatia at birth is 75.7 years. The total fertility rate of 1.50 children per mother is one of the lowest in the world. Since 1991, Croatia's death rate has continuously exceeded its birth rate. The Croatian Bureau of Statistics forecast that the population may even shrink to 3.1 million by 2051, depending on the actual birth rate and the level of net migration. The population of Croatia rose steadily from 2.1 million in 1857 until 1991, when it peaked at 4.7 million, with the exception of censuses taken in 1921 and 1948, i.e. following two world wars. The natural growth rate of the population is currently negative. Croatia started advancing from the first stage of the demographic transition in the late 18th and early 19th centuries (depending on where in Croatia is being discussed). Currently, Croatia is in the fourth or fifth stage of the demographic transition.

One explanation for the recent population decrease is the Croatian War of Independence. During the war, large sections of the population were displaced and emigration increased. In 1991, in predominantly Serb areas, more than 400,000 Croats and other non-Serbs were either removed from their homes by the Croatian Serb forces or fled the violence. In 1995, during the final days of the war, more than 120,000 and perhaps as many as 200,000 Serbs fled the country before the arrival of Croatian forces during Operation Storm. Within a decade following the end of the war, only 117,000 Serb refugees returned out of the 300,000 displaced during the entire war. Most of Croatia's remaining Serbs never lived in areas occupied in the Croatian War of Independence. Serbs have been only partially re-settled in the regions they previously inhabited, while some of the settlements previously inhabited by Serbs were settled by Croat refugees from Bosnia and Herzegovina, mostly from Republika Srpska.

In 2009, there were 44,577 live births in Croatia, comprising 22,877 male and 21,700 female children. Virtually all of those were performed in medical facilities; only 34 births occurred elsewhere. Out of the total number, 38,809 children were born in wedlock or within 300 days after the end of the marriage, and the average age of mothers at the birth of their first child was 27 years and 5 months. General fertility rate, i.e. number of births per 1,000 women aged 15–49 is 42.9, with the age specific rate peaking at 101.0 per million for women aged 25–29. In 2009, 52,414 persons died in Croatia, 48.5% of whom died in medical facilities and 90.0% of whom were receiving medical treatment at the time. Cardiovascular disease and cancer were the primary causes of death in the country, with 26,235 and 13,280 deaths respectively. In the same year, there were 2,986 violent deaths, including 2,121 due to accidents. The latter figure includes 616 deaths in traffic accidents. In 2009, the birth rate was 10.1 per mille, exceeded the by mortality rate of 11.8 per mille. The infant mortality rate was 5.3 per mille in 2009. In terms of age structure, the population of Croatia is dominated by the 15–64 year older segment (68.1%), while the size of the population younger than 15 and older than 64 is relatively small (15.1% and 16.9% respectively). The median age of the population is 41.4. The sex ratio of the population is 1.06 males per 1 female at birth and up to 14 years of age, and 0.99 males per 1 female between the ages of 15 and 64. But at ages over 64 the ratio is 0.64 males per 1 female. The ratio for the total population is 0.93 males per 1 female.

In contrast to the shrinking native population, since the late 1990s there has been a positive net migration into Croatia, reaching a level of more than 7,000 net immigrants in 2006. In recent years, the Croatian government has been pressured each year to add 40% to work permit quotas for foreign workers. In accordance with its immigration policy, Croatia is also trying to entice emigrants to return.

There were 8,468 immigrants in Croatia in 2009, more than half of them (57.5%) coming from Bosnia and Herzegovina, a sharp decline from the previous year's 14,541. In the same year, there were 9,940 emigrants from the country, 44.8% of them leaving to Serbia. The number of emigrants represents a substantial increase compared to the figure of 7,488 recorded in 2008. In 2009, the net migration to and from abroad peaked in the Sisak-Moslavina County (-1,093 persons) and the city of Zagreb (+830 persons).

In 2009, a total of 22,382 marriages were performed in Croatia as well as 5,076 divorces. The 2001 census recorded 1.47 million households in the country.