There were 1.7 million employed persons in Croatia in Q2 2024, which is 73,000 more workers than in Q2 2023, while the number of unemployed persons dropped by 15,000 to 82,000, with the survey unemployment rate standing at 4.6%, the latest figures from the national statistical office (DZS) show.

According to a labour force survey, in Q2 2024, there were 1.697 million workers in Croatia, which is 21,000 more than in Q1.

A year-on-year comparison with Q2 2023 shows that in Q2 2024, there were 73,000 or 4.5% more workers.

At the same time, the number of unemployed persons dropped by 15.4% year on year, and by 17.2% quarter on quarter.

The employment rate, which shows the share of employed persons in the working age population (aged 15-64) in Q2 was 68.7%, an increase of 2.7 percentage points compared to Q2 2023.

The survey unemployment rate for the age group 15-64 was 4.6%, which is 1.1 pp less than in the same period of last year.

A comparison of data on unemployed persons obtained through the labour force survey, containing data from the Croatian Employment Service (HZZ) and other statistical indicators from administrative sources, shows that in Q2 2024 the unemployment rate according to administrative sources was higher (5.1%) than the survey unemployment rate (4.6%).

In that period, according to the labour force survey, the average number of unemployed persons was by 9,000 persons lower than the figure provided by the HZZ.

Since persons covered by the survey provided data on whether they are registered with the HZZ, a comparison of data shows that of the 82,000 unemployed persons reported by the labour force survey, 55,000 or 66.7% were registered with the HZZ while 33.3% were not interested in registering with the HZZ.

At the same time, of the total of 91,000 persons registered with the HZZ, 36,000 or 39.8% did not meet the international unemployment criteria, the DZS said.

Data from the labour force survey shows that in Q2 2024 there were 3.29 million working-age persons in Croatia (above the age of 15), of whom 1.8 million were active population (the sum of employed and unemployed persons), while 1.51 million were inactive.

The activity rate, that is, the percentage of the active population in the working-age population in Q2 was 54.5%, which is 0.1 pp more than in the previous quarter and 1.5 pp more than in Q2 2023.