Population of Croatia keeps shrinking, according to 2017 data released by the state statistics bureau (DZS) on Wednesday (March 14).

The annual report, which compares live births versus deaths in a given year, said little over 40,000 children were born in the country in 2017, while almost 60,000 people died in the same period, meaning Croatia’s population shrank by almost 20,000 people in 2017.

This made 2017 the 20th year in a row with negative natural population growth as the last time Croatia recorded population increase was in 1997, when 55,000 births and some 52,500 deaths produced a 2,500 net gain.