Whereas Europeans work 36.4 hours per week on average in the EU, Croatians work more, with 38.8 hours per week, according to data recently released by Eurostat. And when it comes to leisure activities, Croatians ride bicycles more than other Europeans, but engage in cultural activities and travel less.
When it comes to various quality of life indicators, Croatia is among top countries in the time spent with family members, physical activity, and security. On the other hand, the nation ranked low in travelling, attending sports and culture events, or going to hobbyist courses.
According to Eurostat, 29.7 percent of Croatians spend some of their free time with their family and relatives every day, which is 13 percent above EU average, state statistics bureau said on Wednesday in their report comparing quality of life in Croatia and the EU.
Another 29 percent of Croatians see their family once a week (with EU average being 35.2 percent), and 11.7 percent spend time with family and relatives only once a month, which is close to Eu average of 12.9 percent.
Croatians are also more physically active than the average European in their downtime, with 85.7 percent of them spending it on walking (compared to EU average of 74.4 percent), nearly a third prefer riding bicycles (30.2 percent of Croatians compared to 19.7 percent in the EU) and 21.6 percent practice aerobics (whereas only 4.4 percent do it in the EU).
As for cultural activities or sports events, only 43.7 percent of Croatians engage in some at least once a year, which puts the nation at the bottom of the EU, next to Bulgaria with 32.0 percent, and Romania with 29.6 percent. The average across the EU is 67.3 percent.
Leisure is also spent on travelling and holidays, but according to a 2017 income poll, 58.1 percent of Croatians said they live in households that cannot afford a week’s vacation for all household members. This earns Croatia the penultimate spot on the list of EU countries, in front of Romanians only, with 64.8 percent of them saying the same.
The lowest share was recorded in Denmark, where merely 13.8 percent of citizens cannot afford a seven-day vacation. Croatians are also less likely to take part in training, seminars or courses related to their hobbies or sports. According to 2016 research, only 4.5 percent of Croatians learn new skills that way, whether at some club or community centre or online. In the EU, the share is 11.1 percent.
Eurostat also tracks the number of physicians. Croatia has 319.1 doctors of medicine per 100,000 people. The highest number was recorded in Austria with 509.7, and the lowest in Poland, with 232.8 per 100,000 people.
But Croatia ranked above average in number of dentists, with 79.5 dentists per 100,000 people. In terms of dentists-per-capita, Bulgarians seem to be covered best, with 105.1, and Poland, again, ranking the lowest, with only 33.2 dentists per 100,000 Poles.
Croatians’ life expectancy is 78.2 years of age, somewhat below the EU average of 81.
According to the latest unemployment rate data from June 2018, in Croatia it is 9.2 percent, higher than EU’s 6.9 percent.
Working hours per week are also above average in the country, with 38.8 hours worked per week, more than the EU average of 36.4 hours.
Another factor determining the quality of life is the sense of security. According to 2016 research, the share of persons who said they faced the issue of criminal activity, violence, or vandalism in their environment was 13 percent across the EU.
However, in Croatia it was merely 3 percent, putting Croatia among the safest countries for living.
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