The Croatian financial state regulator Hanfa released the results of a survey which looked into financial skills among secondary-school students, and found that their financial literacy level is generally low.

The survey, conducted in the Q4 2021 on a sample of 700 secondary-school students, showed that 46 percent of students polled had a “positive attitude towards money” but it also found a low level of financial literacy.

The poorest results were shown in financial knowledge – only 28 percent of students polled knew how to determine a compound interest rate, and only 25 percent aware that pension payments for the so-called third pension pillar are voluntary. Students in secondary schools of economics expectedly showed a higher level of knowledge, particularly with regard to the pension system, while those in schools with programs in humanities showed a lower level of financial knowledge.

The “highest level of responsible financial behavior was shown towards shopping,” state agency Hina said, explaining that “69 percent of students carefully consider whether they can afford a certain product or a service.”

Even though they do not regularly monitor their spending and spend in excess of their budgets, when buying they act responsibly. The majority of students know what they are spending their money on while about 20 percent aren’t sure where their money is going.

Students are rarely informed of topics related to finances and only 10 percent are informed of financial topics several times a week, and once again these are mostly students attending secondary schools of economics. Half the students consider that money is there to be spent while 65 percent intend to set aside savings for their pension.

The average age of respondents was 16.5 years, and two-thirds were female students and one-third were male students. About 28 percent attended secondary schools with humanities programs, 52 percent  with economics programs and about 20 percent came from vocational schools.