Decrease in the number of households with three or more members, increase in the number of one- and two-person households

Data of the 2021 Census on private and institutional households published

According to the final results of the 2021 Census, there were 3 871 833 inhabitants in the Republic of Croatia, of which 3 829 989, or 98.9%, lived in private households and 41 844, or only 1.1%, in institutional households. As for the number of households, it amounted to 1 436 893, of which 1 435 440 were private households and 1 453 institutional ones.

Comparing the structure of households in the Censuses from 1953 to 2021, a constant decline in the household size, that is, the average number of its members, is noticeable. In 1953, an average of 3.8 persons lived in one household, while in 2021, this figure amounted to 2.7.

In 2021, the largest households on average were in the Counties of Krapina-Zagorje (3.1 members), Međimurje (3.1), Varaždin (3.0) and Zagreb (3.0), while the smallest ones were in the Counties of Primorje-Gorski kotar (2.4), Lika-Senj (2.4), Šibenik-Knin (2.5) and the City of Zagreb (2.5).

In that respect, the share of households with three or more members is decreasing and the share of one- and two-person households in the total number of households is increasing. For example, the share of one-person households in 1953 amounted to 14.1%, while in 2021, it rose to 27.8%.  The share of three-member households in the total number of households in 1953 was 18.8%, and in 2021 it fell to 17.9%, while the share of households with five and more members in the total number of households in 1953 was 32.4%, and in 2021 it was 12.4%.

Published data are available via the following links:

Private Households by Number of Members, by Towns/ Municipalities, 2021 Census

Institutional Households by Number of Members, by Counties, 2021 Census 

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