A comparative social study of the City of Zagreb has shown a continued rise in the number of residents as well as an increase in the number of unemployed people.

The 2019-2020 comparative social study, prepared by the City of Zagreb’s Social Council and the CERANEO – Centre for the Development of Non-Profit Organisations, focused on dealing with challenges stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic and a 5.5-strong earthquake that hit Zagreb and its environs on the 22 March 2020.

Presenting the results of the study recently, Professor Gojko Bezovan, said that the city had allocated additional funds to cope with the corona crisis and the quake aftermath. “The social situation in the city is stable, but many social challenges clearly remain.”

In 2019, the number of residents increased by 0.34% to 807,254, mainly due to the immigration of young people. Also, that year Zagreb registered 3,808 new marriages while 1,430 couples divorced.

When it comes to unemployment, in 2019 the average unemployment number was 15,957, while in 2020 it was 18,902. Nearly half of the jobless people had secondary school qualifications.

The City of Zagreb has the lowest at-risk-of-poverty rate in Croatia, of 9.8%.

The dual challenge of the pandemic and the earthquake has put many tasks before Zagreb since the start of 2020 with regard to housing and accommodation, the study said.