Nearly €640 million was invested in Croatian islands by the state in 2023, which was a 15% decrease from a record high investment of €698.3 million in 2022, according to a government report on the implementation of the Islands Act in 2023.

From 2006 to 2022, a total of €5.5 billion was invested in the Croatian islands, which means that an average annual investment in the said period was €309.14 milion.

Since 1999, when the first Islands Act was passed, investments into Croatia’s Adriatic islands have been growing. For instance in 2022, allocations for that purpose increased by 23% from 2021.

2023 was the first year with a year-on-year decrease in the allocation for the islands since 2017.

The government explains that these trends can be viewed through the investments in the 2020-2022, when they were influenced and significantly increased due to the dynamics of the implementation of the southern Dalmatia road connectivity project, which included the construction of Pelješac Bridge with access roads and the Ston bypass.

From 2016 to 2023, a total of €3.5 billion was invested in the islands, of which €3.2 billion (91.8%) were non-repayable grants, while loan funds amounted to €286.62 million (8.2%).

All of this demonstrates that Croatia recognises its island areas, population, and life on the islands as areas of special national interest, with great natural, economic and tourist potential, said the Minister for Regional Development and EU Funds, Šime Erlić.

The minister particularly highlighted the strength of island economies and entrepreneurs.

“Businesses on the islands generated nearly €11 billion in revenue from 2018 to 2023, with the highest revenue of €2.5 billion achieved in 2023, marking a 15.41% increase compared to the previous year,” he said.

Over the past five years, the number of businesses has continuously grown, from 4,954 in 2019 to 5,712 in 2023.

During the same period, the number of employed people grew from 23,174 to 27,479, reaching a record high level.

The average monthly net salary per employee in 2023 was €902, which is 11% higher than in 2022.

The relevant ministry in 2023 allocated additional incentives for projects on islands with specific locations, parts of islands, and islets.

Through the Island Development Programme, funding was provided for 70 infrastructure projects, with the state securing €4.4 million and as many as 21 projects were implemented on islands with specific locations.

Slight decline in number of pupils, increased enrolment in kindergartens

The number of students on the islands has periods of both growth and decline.

Over an 11-year period, from the 2013/2014 to 2023/2024 school year, there were 64 fewer students on the islands, a decrease of 0.6%, which is much lower than the national decline, where the total relative reduction was 11.57%, or 58,918 fewer students.

In the 2023/24 school year, there were 10,552 students on the islands, 141 fewer than the previous year.

Over the 11 observed years, fewer students were recorded only in the 2014/15 school year (10,481) and the 2015/16 school year (10,505). The highest number of students was in the 2021/22 school year, with 10,723 students.

An encouraging statistic is that the islands are seeing a positive trend in both the number of enrolled children and an increase in preschool enrolment rates, which reached 69.28% in 2023.

In the 2023/24 school year, 4,384 children were enrolled in preschools, says Erlić.

The island of Lastovo had the highest enrolment rate in 2023, with 100%, meaning all children attended preschool, while the lowest rate was on Mljet, with just 11.86%. The construction project for the only preschool on the island of Mljet, in Babino Polje, began in 2023.

Croatia’s islands comprise 1,244 natural formations, including 78 islands. Those 53 inhabited islands, including the Pelješac peninsula, had 127,838 inhabitants in 2021, according to a population census, and there were about 5,000 or 3.7% fewer people than in 2011, when the previous census was carried out.

Broken down by age, those islands have the population with above-average age, and 29% of residents are aged above 65, while 60% are residents aged between 15 and 65. A mere 12.5% are children under 14.

In the past 165 years, the Croatian islands saw the biggest population in 1921 when 174,994 people lived on them, while the lowest number of island inhabitants was in 1981 (113,299).