Only four of 127 towns in Croatia - Dugo Selo, Solin, Metković and Imotski - had more births than deaths last year, and the Croatian population declined by slightly over 11,000 people, Jutarnji List daily said on Saturday, citing the Croatian Bureau of Statistics (DZS).

The DZS has confirmed that last year the smallest number of children was born in the last 100 years. In 2022, a total of 33,883 children were born, nearly 3,000 fewer than in 2021, while at the same time 56,979 people died.

Croatia’s population has thus shrunk by a town the size of Vukovar, the newspaper said.

None of the counties recorded more births than deaths, and in as many as seven of them the number of deaths was at least twice the number of births. The worst indicator was for Lika-Senj County, where the vital index was 40, meaning that there were only 40 births per 100 deaths.

In order for the natural increase to be positive, the vital index must be above 100. Such an index was not recorded in any of the counties, and the closest to it were Zagreb and Međimurje Counties with a vital index of 71.

Among the counties with the vital index below 50, meaning that there were at least twice as many deaths as births, was Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, where 1,891 babies were born and as many as 4,077 people died last year. The situation in the county centre, Rijeka, was even worse as nearly three times more people died than were born.

Among the cities, Zagreb topped the ranking with a vital index of 77, followed by Split and Osijek with an index of just above 50.

Among the towns and municipalities, Dugo Selo led with a vital index of 120, meaning that there were 20 per cent more births than deaths. It was followed by Solin with a vital index of 115. At the bottom of the ranking were Hrvatska Kostajnica and Senj, where fewer than 20 children were born per 100 deaths.

The total population decline was partly offset by immigration. After many years, Croatia had a positive migration balance last year, with about 11,700 more persons immigrating than emigrating. Since the natural increase was negative by 23,000 people, the Croatian population shrank by slightly over 11,000, Jutarnji List said.