Croatia sees slight rise in births in 2025, but long-term decline continues

After years of declining birth rates, Croatia recorded a modest increase in live births in 2025. According to provisional data from the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), 32,385 babies were born last year, 527 more than in 2024, when births hit a decade-long low of 31,858.

While this interrupts the downward trend, experts stress that it does not signal a reversal of Croatia’s long-term demographic decline.

Minister of Demography and Immigration Ivan Šipić attributes the increase to government measures, including the new Maternity and Parental Benefits Act, expanded parental and paternity leave, and higher financial support for families. He says such policies make it easier for parents to consider having more children.

"Our main goal is to halt negative trends," Šipić said. "Through coordinated government measures, we aim to create a sense of security and reverse these trends. A key part of our plan includes encouraging the return of Croatian citizens from abroad, alongside pro-natal policies and support for families."

Demographers, however, caution against reading too much into the numbers. Ivo Turk from the Ivo Pilar Institute of Social Sciences notes that Croatia has experienced a continuous natural population decline since the early 1990s.

"The preliminary data for 2025 are no exception," Turk said. "This is only a reduction in the intensity of the negative trend, not its reversal. Croatia is still recording a significant natural population decline."

Ivan Čipin, professor at the Faculty of Economics in Zagreb, adds that annual fluctuations of several hundred births are common in a country of Croatia’s size. He describes the 2025 increase as a 1–2 percent shift, likely due to natural oscillations rather than a structural change.