In nearly one in two cities or municipalities, 248 of 555, less than 10 percent of the population is employed, Jutarnji List daily said in Monday's issue.

These alarming data reveal, as warned by economists, the extent to which Croatia has transformed into an economy increasingly based on renting, notably along the coast.

The most active population is in the northern counties of Varazdin, Krapina-Zagorje, Medjimurje, and Koprivnica-Krizevci. Of the ten cities with the highest share of those employed in the total population, five are in northern Croatia, with Varazdin and Cakovec having the highest shares, 60.9% and 60.1% respectively.

The Varazdin area and the Medjimurje region are the healthiest parts of Croatia in terms of enterprise, Predrag Bejakovic of the Institute of Public Finance told Jutarnji List.

Paradoxically, salaries there are among the lowest in the country, which economists say is due to the textile and footwear industries, which have strong roots in there and in which pay is traditionally low.

Although data on the active population by city or municipality are not complete as they do not encompass those employed in trades and freelancers, who account for 15% of all employed, as well as farmers, they represent a good indicator of trends on the labour market and in society, the newspaper said.

The shares refer to the total population of a city or municipality, not just the active population, reflecting the demographic disaster Croatia is going through. While the north of the country, the City of Zagreb and the tourism-oriented Istria County are doing relatively well, the rest of the country is having a hard time both demographically and economically.

Many talk about two Croatias, one focused on enterprise and one on the rent economy and employment in the public sector, Jutarnji List said.