At the end of December 2024, the Croatian Employment Services (HZZ) recorded 91,563 unemployed people, which corresponds to a decrease of 20.4% (or 23,419 fewer people) compared to December 2023, HZZ reported on Friday.

Compared to November last year, however, the number of unemployed rose by 1.9%, or 1,666 people.

Employment on the basis of formal contracts most frequently recorded in wholesale and retail trade

According to daily data from the HZZ, 94,469 people are currently registered as unemployed, while 16,151 vacancies are advertised.

In December, a total of 11,799 people were newly registered as unemployed, 1.3% fewer than in December 2023. 79.9% (9,422 people) of these came from employment, 298 people (2.5%) from formal education and 2,079 people (17.6%) from inactivity.

According to HZZ data, 10,133 people deregistered from the unemployment register in December, 0.9% fewer than in December 2023. 6,695 of these found employment – 6,131 (91.6%) through formal employment contracts and 564 (8.4%) through other types of work activities.

Employment on the basis of formal contracts was most frequently recorded in wholesale and retail trade (1,038 people or 16.9%), followed by accommodation and food services (1,016 people or 16.6%), manufacturing (632 people or 10.3%) and health and social work (487 people or 7.9%).

Highest absolute number of registered unemployed recorded in Split-Dalmatia County

In December last year, 3,438 people were removed from the unemployment register for other reasons, such as leaving the labour force (retirement, return to formal education), failure to meet legal requirements (e.g. not actively looking for work, unavailability for work), deregistration and more.

Among the counties, Split-Dalmatia County was the leader in employment figures (1,003 persons or 16.4% of those employed via formal contracts), followed by the City of Zagreb (788 persons or 12.9%), Osijek-Baranja County (661 persons or 10.8%) and Vukovar-Srijem County (412 persons or 6.7%).

The highest absolute number of registered unemployed was recorded in Split-Dalmatia County (16,588 or 18.1% of the national total), Osijek-Baranja County (11,569 or 12.6%) and the City of Zagreb (10,040 or 11%), while the lowest number was recorded in Lika-Senj County (1,159 or 1.3%).

In December, 23,092 people (25.2% of the total number of unemployed) received unemployment benefits. The number of benefit recipients decreased by 0.2% (or 47 people) compared to the same month in 2023.