A total of 1.69 million people in Croatia were in employment in May 2024, which is 2% more than in April 2024 and 1.8% more than in April 2024 while the registered unemployment rate dropped to 5%, 0.6 pp down from April, the Croatian Bureau of Statistics (DZS) said on Friday.
In May 2024, 1,688,586 people were in work, which is 33,654 more than in the previous month. Year-on-year, the number of people in work rose by 1.8%.
A total of 1,451,505 people were employed in legal entities, which is 23,750 people or 1.7% more than in April 2024. Compared with May 2023, the number of employees in legal entities increased by 1.3%.
Citing the data from the Croatian Pension Insurance Fund, the DZS said that in May 2024, 219,016 people worked in trades and crafts and free-lance professions, which is 9,972 people or 4.8% more than in April 2024. On an annual level, the number of employees in trades and crafts and free-lance professions rose by 5.4%.
The number of insured farmers stood at 18,065 at the end of May this year, down by 0.4% on a monthly basis and by 1.7% on an annual basis.
Month-on-month, the number of employees dropped only in energy, gas, steam and air conditioning supply, by 0.2% to 14,414.
The largest monthly increase in employment was recorded in the tourism and hospitality sector (+12.1% to 91,925 people employed).
Compared with May 2023, employment increased in 12 sectors. The largest annual increases were recorded in construction (+5.6% to 122,658 employees), administrative and support service activities (+3.8% to 59,000 employees) and hospitality and tourism (+3.6%).
The largest annual drop in the number of employees, of 2.8%, was recorded in other service activities, which at the end of May had 20,818 employees. Public administration and defence and compulsory social security followed, with a drop in the number of employees of 2.1% to 110,124 employees.
The manufacturing industry was the sector with the largest number of employees – 233,005. Their number decreased by 1% on an annual basis. The wholesale and retail trade sector employed 222,399 people in May 2024, an increase of 2.1% on an annual basis.
Citing the data from the Croatian Employment Service (HZZ), the DZS said that at the end of May 2024, 88,327 unemployed persons were registered with the HZZ, which is 10,493 persons or 10.6% fewer than in the previous month.
The registered unemployment rate in May 2024 was 5%, 0.6 pp down from April 2024.
Year-on-year, the number of unemployed persons dropped by 9.6%.
