The NUTS classification was formally introduced in the Croatian Statistical System on 9 December 2013, when the Commission Regulation No 1319/2013 amending annexes to Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the establishment of a common classification of territorial units for statistics (NUTS) due to the accession of the Republic of Croatia to the European Union.
The NUTS classification has been used since Croatia entered to the European Union and corresponds to the National Classification of Spatial Units for Statistics (NKPJS 2012).
NKPJS is a national statistical standard used for collecting, entering, processing, analysing and disseminating regional statistics data by levels of spatial division of the Republic of Croatia.
NKPJS is a statistical basis for an efficient conduct of regional development policy, for making socio-economic analyses and for achieving goals of social and economic cohesion.
NKPJS is a hierarchical classification used for establishment of spatial units for statistics at levels 1, 2 and 3, according to which the territory of the Republic of Croatia is broken down for the purposes of regional statistics.
The NUTS classification for Croatia was revised in 2019 by the Commission delegated regulation 2019/1755 of 8 August 2019 amending the Annexes to Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the establishment of a common classification of territorial units for statistics (NUTS).
The National Classification of Statistical Regions 2021 – HR_NUTS 2021 was published on the national level in the OG, No.
125/19.
The structure of the National Classification of Statistical Regions 2021:
The statistical region of the 1st level (hereinafter referred to as HR NUTS 1) is the Republic of Croatia as an administrative unit.
The statistical region of the 2nd level (hereinafter referred to as HR NUTS 2) consists of 4 non-administrative units created by grouping counties as lower-level administrative units.
The statistical region of the 3rd level (hereinafter referred to as HR NUTS 3) consists of 21 administrative units (20 counties and the City of Zagreb).
