8 Billion Lives
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Where you could be born / Europe / Southern Europe

Born in Croatia

About 1 in 4,207 people born in 2023 started life in Croatia. A boy can expect to live 75 years and a girl 82, up from 56 and 61 in 1950. Most people live in cities, and nearly everyone has basic drinking water.

1 in 4,207
odds of being born here
31,400 births · Ranked 144th of 230
75 / 82
years of life, boys / girls
Was 56 / 61 in 1950
$15,094
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 63rd of 203 · extrapolated
57%
live in a city
The rest live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 20 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 139 in every 1,000 births to 4.0.

How long a life lasts

GirlsBoys

0255075100195019852023

Years a baby born that year could expect to live.

Children who die before age 5
050100150195019852023

In every 1,000 births.

Life expectancy at birth75.4 years for boys, 81.7 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 54.0 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year55,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people3.9World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles90%World Bank WDI
Adults living with HIV0.1%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year8 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 2.9 children on average in 1950. Now it is 1.5, below the 2.1 it takes to keep a population steady.

Children per woman
0123195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman1.47UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth30.7 yearsUN WPP 2024

Money and work

If every 100 coins of income were shared out, the richest fifth would hold 38 and the poorest fifth 8.

Who gets the income
Share of all income by fifth of the population, 2023
8%Poorest fifth
13%Second
18%Middle
23%Fourth
38%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $15,094 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank PIP, scaled between survey years Extrapolated
Share of income going to the richest fifth / poorest fifth38% / 8% (2023)World Bank PIP
Unemployment6.1% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Price rises7.9% a year (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person3.7% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming5% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed13% of jobs (2025)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment105% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is Zagreb, with 663,592 people.

57%
live in cities
100%
have electricity at home
100%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
Zagreb663,592
Split149,830
Rijeka107,964
Osijek75,535
Zadar67,309
Languages
Share of people who can use each
Croatian99%
English49%
Italian2%
Croatian, Italian is official.

Cities and regions

Every state, province and large city with a page.

Largest regions

Zagreb718,905
Split-Dalmatia170,826
Primorje-Gorski Kotar107,964
County of Osijek-Baranja92,473
Zadar67,309
Zagreb County65,715
Istria52,220
Vukovar-Srijem50,366
Brod-Posavina45,005
Karlovac41,869

Sourced: GeoNames Population of each state, province or region.

All 18 regions
  • Zagreb718,905
  • Split-Dalmatia170,826
  • Primorje-Gorski Kotar107,964
  • County of Osijek-Baranja92,473
  • Zadar67,309
  • Zagreb County65,715
  • Istria52,220
  • Vukovar-Srijem50,366
  • Brod-Posavina45,005
  • Karlovac41,869
  • Varaždin36,187
  • Šibenik-Knin31,115
  • Sisak-Moslavina27,859
  • Dubrovnik-Neretva26,922
  • Bjelovar-Bilogora24,392
  • Koprivnica-Križevci22,262
  • Požega-Slavonia16,867
  • Međimurje15,078

People on the move

About 21% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are Germany, Serbia, Austria.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
Germany271,197
Serbia223,325
Austria59,348
Residents born abroad13.6% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 21.3% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostGermany (271,197), Serbia (223,325), Austria (59,348)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $7.2 billion a year (2025)World Bank WDI

Safety nets

93% of older people receive a pension. Help for someone who loses a job reaches 19%.

93%
of older people receive a pension (2022)
19%
of unemployed people receive a benefit (2022)

Events in the data

The game draws real events from these records, so a life lived here can meet them.

Reported COVID-19 deaths, 2020 to 202418,752Our World in Data, from WHO
Significant earthquakes recorded since 19505NOAA NCEI
Deaths in organized violence1,478 between 1992 and 1995UCDP

Now live it.

Born in Croatia, to a family drawn from these numbers. Every life replays exactly from its seed.

Be born in Croatia

Elsewhere in Europe

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How to read the sources. Every figure is sourced to a named dataset, shown beside it. A figure marked "Extrapolated" is estimated by a model because no survey covers the year. UN figures are for 2023, the latest year of UN estimates; other figures are the latest year their dataset has. Rank 1 is the highest figure among 230 countries and territories. All sources and licences