ZAGREB, 11 Dec (Hina) – The number of employed persons in 3Q 2024 was 1.69 million, 69,000 more than in the same period of 2023, while the number of unemployed persons dropped by 7,000 to 88,000, with the unemployment rate based on the Labour Force Survey standing at 5%, show estimates by the Croatian Bureau of Statistics (DZS).
According to the survey, in 3Q 2024, Croatia recorded 1.691 million employed persons, or 6,000 fewer employees compared to the previous quarter.
Year-on-year, there were 69,000 more employed individuals in 3Q 2024 than in 3Q 2023, marking a 4.2%В increase.
At the same time, the number of unemployed persons fell by 7.2%В year-on-year but increased by 0.4% compared to the previous quarter.
The employment rate, which reflects the share of employed individuals in the working-age population (15 to 64 years), reached 68.5% in 3Q 2024, a rise of 2.7 percentage points compared to the same quarter in 2023.
The survey-based unemployment rate for individuals aged 15 to 64 was 5%, which is 0.6 pp lower than in the same period last year.
A comparison of unemployment data from the labour force survey and administrative records maintained by the Croatian Employment Service (HZZ) and other statistical sources reveals that the administrative unemployment rate (4.7%) was lower than the survey-based rate (5%) in 3Q 2024.
During this period, the average number of unemployed individuals based on the labour force survey was by 2,000 higher than the figures recorded by the HZZ.
Survey respondents indicated whether they were registered with the employment service, showing that of the 88,000 unemployed individuals identified in the labour force survey, 61,000 (or 69.1%) were registered with the employment service, while 30.9%В were not interested in registering.
At the same time, of the total of 86,000 individuals registered with the HZZ, 25,000 (29.4%) did not meet the international criteria for unemployment, the DZS noted.
The survey data also showed that in 3Q 2024, Croatia had 3.29 million working-age residents (aged 15 and over), of whom 1.77 million constituted the active population (employed and unemployed combined), while 1.51 million were classified as inactive.
The activity rate, or the percentage of the active population within the working-age population (15 to 89 years), stood at 54.4%В in 3Q 2024, down by 0.1 percentage point compared to the previous quarter but up by 1.6 pp compared to 3Q 2023.
