ILO unemployment rate was 5.5%
According to the Labour Force Survey, it is estimated that there were 1.71 million employed persons in the Republic of Croatia in the first quarter of 2026, which was an increase of 19 thousand, or 1.2% compared to the first quarter of 2025. In the same reference period, the number of unemployed persons in the Republic of Croatia amounted to 99 thousand, which was an increase of one thousand, or 1.2% compared to the first quarter of 2025.
In the first quarter of 2026, the employment rate of persons aged 15 to 64 years was 68.7%, which was an increase of 0.4 percentage points compared to the first quarter of 2025. In terms of regions, the City of Zagreb had the highest employment rate, of 74.4%, while Pannonian Croatia had the lowest employment rate, of 63.6%.
The ILO unemployment rate of persons aged 15 to 64 years was 5.6%, which was the same as in the same period of the previous year. North Croatia had the lowest ILO unemployment rate (3.0%), while Pannonian Croatia had the highest ILO unemployment rate (7.6%).
Working-age population amounted to 3.32 million
Data from the Labour Force Survey also show that, in the first quarter of 2026, the working-age population (aged 15 years and over) in the Republic of Croatia amounted to 3.32 million, of which 1.81 million persons were active (the sum of employed and unemployed persons), and 1.52 million persons were inactive.
Regarding reasons of inactivity, out of the total number of inactive persons, 1.09 million of them (or 72.0%), were inactive due to age, illness, education etc., followed by 53 thousand persons (or 3.5%) who wanted to work but did not seek employment, and 6 thousand persons (or 0.4%) who sought employment but could not accept it in the next two weeks. The remaining 365 thousand persons (or 24.1%) were inactive persons aged 75 years and over who are, according to the methodology, not asked in detail about reasons for their inactivity.
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