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Proin porttitor, orci nec nonummy molestie, enim est eleifend mi, non fermentum diam nisl sit amet erat. Duis semper. Duis arcu massa, scelerisque vitae, consequat in, pretium a, enim.

The 18th day of February is a very special date in the Croatian statistical circles. Namely, it was on that very date back in 1875 that the Austrian emperor and Croatian-Hungarian king Franz Joseph I confirmed in Vienna the Law on the Foundation of the Office and Council for State Statistics in Croatia and Slavonia.

Several more months elapsed between the adoption of the Law and the start of the Office’s operation, during which the Royal State Government and the Croatian-Slavonian-Dalmatian Parliament took certain steps in order to implement it. The State Statistical Council was also established as an advisory and expert body by the same Law. The Statistical Office began its work on 1 August 1875. Ban Ivan Mažuranić confirmed the the Instruction on the Scope and Branch Offices of the Council and the Office for State Statistics in Croatia and Slavonia and appointed Milovan Zoričić as an assessor and entrusted him with the management of the statistical office.

He held the position of assessor for 10 years, until 16 February 1885, when a new law on the reorganization of the office was passed. This made Zoričić the head of the office, and ten years later, in 1895, he was appointed director. He held that position until his death, on 30 October 1912. He was a member of the International Statistical Institute, the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts, as well as the Croatian Medical Association, or Sbor liečnikâ kraljevina Hrvatske i Slavonije.

You can read more about the establishment of the Statistical Office in Croatia and its first director, Milovan Zoričić, in the articles 150 Years Since the Foundation of the Statistical Office in Croatia and Who Was Milovan Zoričić?

The Statistical Yearbook for 1874 was divided into 21 units and included a variety of data, from data on surface area, population size and natural change in population, data on loans, mortgages and banks, to data on schools, steamships and telegram communication. Below is the list of chapters with their original names:

1. Area, populace and residences
2. Change in populace in 1874
3. Productive land area, yield of grain and other crops, and livestock
4. Average market prices in the years 1871, 1872, 1873 and 1874
5. Mining in 1874
6. Steamship navigation in 1874
7. Maritime shipping in the years 1871, 1872 and 1873
8. Postal service in the years 1873 and 1874
9. Telegraphy in the years 1873 and 1874
10. Banks, savings banks, savings and benefit societies
11. Encumbrances registered on real property in Croatia and Slavonia at the end of the year 1874
12. Change in properties in possession and encumbered real property in Croatia and Slavonia from 1865 to 1874.
13. Criminal justice in the years 1870, 1871, 1872, 1873 and 1874
14. Private judiciary: courts of the first, second, and third appeal in the Croatian-Slavonian Military Frontier in 1873 and 1874
15. Educational institutions in 1873, 1874 and 1875
16. National product in Croatia and Slavonia in 1873 and 1874
17. National product in the Croatian-Slavonian Military Frontier in 1874
18. Receipts and expenditures of the Croatian-Slavonian Foundation for the Relief of Lands in 1873 and 1874
19. Assets of foundations managed by the Royal Dalmatian-Croatian-Slavonian Provincial Government in the years 1873 and 1874
20. Economy of the towns of Croatia and Slavonia and the Croatian-Slavonian Military Frontier in 1874
21. Recruitment success in the year 1874

The 1880 census as carefully prepared and conducted in a very short time by the Office for State Statistics, headed by Milovan Zoričić. Its first results were published as early as 1882, and in the following year the official results were published in the publication entitled “Census of Populace and Livestock as of 31 December 1880”. On more than 500 pages, this publication provided data on population, households and livestock, but it also detailed the methodology of data collection and listed all the documents used to collect those data, such as the census questionnaires. Curiously, the questionnaires for women were white, while for men they were blue.

At the time of the 1880 population census, the territory of the Kingdom of Croatia and Slavonia was divided into eight counties: Zagreb, Osijek, Varaždin, Križevci, Bjelovar, Požega, Virovitica, and Srijem, as well as six frontier districts that had already been incorporated into the Kingdom of Croatia, Slavonia, and Dalmatia (Lika-Otočac, Ogulin-Slunj, Banovina, Gradiška, Brod, and Petrovaradin).

The territory of what was then Croatia covered an area of 42 516.015 km2 as of 31 December 1880. A total of 1 905 295 inhabitants lived in that area, of which 12 796 were military personnel and 1 892 499 were civilians. On average, there were 44 inhabitants per square kilometre, with the highest density of 95 inhabitants per square kilometre in the County of Varaždin. According to the standards and definitions at the time, in 1880, there were 20 towns, 49 market towns, 4 520 villages, 219 deserted settlements, and 17 colonies in Croatia, making a total of 4 825 settlements.

Read more about that Census, as well as the history of population censuses in the Republic of Croatia, in the article How we counted ourselves for the last 150 years.

The newly established Statistical Office of Croatia was organised into several specialised professional statistical departments, such as the department for demographic statistics, the department for agricultural statistics with forestry, the department for industrial statistics, the department for credit statistics, transport statistics, short-term business statistics, social, cultural and educational statistics, and the department for statistical documentation and publishing.

The Statistical Office of Croatia, along with the offices of other republics and autonomous provinces in Yugoslavia, was centralised and subordinated to the Federal Statistical Office of Yugoslavia in Belgrade during the period from 1948 to 1951. This centralisation affected the professional, staffing, and financial aspects of the Office's operations.

This organisational arrangement remained in effect until 1951, when the Federal Bureau of Statistics and Records was established, headquartered in Belgrade. In the same year, the authority of the federal statistics office over the statistical departments in the republics and provinces came to an end, and republican and provincial bureaus for statistics and records were established. The main task of the Bureau of Statistics and Records was to establish an autonomous and independent professional statistical institution. The initial period was challenging due to the need to standardise methodologies, classifications, nomenclatures, and similar processes, as well as to engage existing statistical experts and educate new ones.

The Bureau changed its name several times during its existence. In 1956, it was renamed the Bureau of Statistics and operated under that name until 1963, when it became the Republican Bureau for Statistics of the Socialist Republic of Croatia. That name was used until 1992, after which it has been called the Croatian Bureau of Statistics.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. 2009 was a year of many events and changes. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Sed non risus. Suspendisse lectus tortor, dignissim sit amet, adipiscing nec, ultricies sed, dolor.

Proin porttitor, orci nec nonummy molestie, enim est eleifend mi, non fermentum diam nisl sit amet erat. Duis semper. Duis arcu massa, scelerisque vitae, consequat in, pretium a, enim.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. 2010 was a year of many events and changes. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Sed non risus. Suspendisse lectus tortor, dignissim sit amet, adipiscing nec, ultricies sed, dolor.

Proin porttitor, orci nec nonummy molestie, enim est eleifend mi, non fermentum diam nisl sit amet erat. Duis semper. Duis arcu massa, scelerisque vitae, consequat in, pretium a, enim.

By the Act on the Organisation and Scope of Ministries and Other State Administration Bodies (NN, No. 55/92), the former Republican Bureau for Statistics of the Socialist Republic of Croatia was renamed and has since been known as the Croatian Bureau of Statistics. After gaining independence, the Bureau assumed the role of the central state institution responsible for official statistics and, since 1992, has represented the Republic of Croatia at the international level. In line with its new responsibilities and position within the state administration, as well as Croatia’s aspirations to join the European Union, it was necessary to carry out numerous adjustments. Particular attention had to be given to the transformation of the statistical system to align it with the standards of the statistical systems of the United Nations, the European Community (Eurostat), and other relevant institutions.

In June 1994, the State Statistics Act was adopted (Narodne novine, No. 52/94), followed by the Official Statistics Act, which has since been amended several times (Narodne novine, Nos. 103/03, 75/09, 59/12, and 12/13 – consolidated text). The new Official Statistics Act (Narodne novine, Nos. 25/20 and 155/23), adopted in March 2020, further aligns the Croatian statistical system with the European Statistical System.

In parallel with the continuous development and improvement of the statistical system and the process of harmonising the Croatian statistical system with the European one, the need arose for a new strategic document that, in addition to the existing statistical areas, would also cover those yet to be developed and implemented, as well as outline goals related to the further enhancement of the statistical system. Therefore, the Development Strategy of Official Statistics of the Republic of Croatia 2013 – 2022 was based on relevant regulations of the Republic of Croatia as well as European Union regulations related to official statistics. The strategy additionally aimed to create the prerequisites for adopting the best international practices in building an efficient, high-quality, and reliable statistical system. Currently, the Development Strategy of Official Statistics of the Republic of Croatia 2021 – 2030 is in effect. This strategy defines the strategic goals of the Croatian statistical system within three priority areas, which are listed below.

1. Further strengthening of the national statistical system and successful cooperation with the European Statistical System
2. Modernisation and development of statistical processes
3. Ensuring quality, comparable and timely official statistics and their improvement

PC-Axis databases allow users to use structured tables that, in addition to data, also contain metadata describing the table and its content in more detail. The PC-Axis databases are presented using the PX-Web application, which enables users to browse, search, select, create and download selected statistical data in various formats. The application also supports automatic data access via API for advanced users and applications.

The Croatian Bureau of Statistics published its first statistical data on PX-Web on 17 December 2003. These were the results of the 2003 Agricultural Census. After that, data from the domain of population statistics were published in Settlements and Population of the Republic of Croatia, 1857 – 2001, along with vital statistics data (births and deaths since 1964), followed by data on trade in goods. Today, the PC-Axis databases contain more than a thousand structured tables, organised in 21 subject areas and more over 130 sub-areas.

At the beginning of 2025, a new version of PX-Web (PX-Web 2023) was released on the website. This version is visually different from the previous one from 2015, but all the existing functionalities have been retained, technical issues have been fixed, and some new features have been added, such as saving created tables and additional download formats.

With its membership in the European Statistical System (ESS), a new era began for the Croatian Bureau of Statistics, marked by active participation in European affairs in the field of official statistics. Experts from the Croatian Bureau of Statistics actively participate in the activities of the European Statistical System (ESS) at all levels. Within working groups and committees, they take part in developing methodologies, setting work programmes, defining proposals for the legislative framework, and shaping all guidelines for the future development of European statistics.

Member States collect data and compile statistics both for national needs and for the needs of the European Union. The ESS functions as a network in which Eurostat’s role is to coordinate statistics in close cooperation with national statistical authorities to enable the development, production, and dissemination of European statistics – that is, to ensure the availability of high-quality official statistics at both the national and European levels.

Official European statistics are governed by the principles of the Code of Practice for European Statistics, which aims to ensure the quality and credibility of the data. This Code is based on 15 principles covering the institutional environment, statistical production processes, and statistical outputs. For each principle, a set of good practice indicators provides criteria for assessing the implementation of the Code.

The legal framework for the development, production, and dissemination of European statistics is defined by Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics, as amended by Regulation (EU) 2015/759 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2015, an Regulation (EU) 2024/3018 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 November 2024 amending Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics.

The Croatian Bureau of Statistics' profiles on social media platforms – Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn serve as important communication channels for promoting and disseminating official statistical data.

We have adapted the well-known model of "inform, educate, and entertain" to fit our goals: to inform about useful and interesting data, the activities of the Bureau, and the implementation of surveys and projects; to increase statistical literacy – that is, to enhance understanding and proper use of statistics; and ultimately to become that one engaging page that users enjoy following and are eager to like or follow in order to stay connected daily to a source of interesting and cool data.

To achieve this, in addition to the above, we monitor the dynamics of social events and current affairs, mark important and commemorative days, and present and promote projects and activities such as the Population Census, Agricultural Census, Stedy, the Statistical Competition, as well as cooperation with other institutions and statistical offices by creating content (primarily infographics and video materials) that on average generates over 50 thousand reactions annually and reaches more than 130 thousand users monthly.

Over more than ten years of actively creating content for our social media channels, we have attracted a considerable number of loyal followers: more than 21 thousand on Facebook, over six thousand on Instagram, more than two thousand on LinkedIn – where we have been regularly posting content since 2024 – over seven thousand on X (with profiles in both Croatian and English), and more than 66 thousand views on YouTube.

In this way, we have built a community of statistics enthusiasts and a space for two-way communication, as we review comments daily, receive both praise and criticism, and respond to inquiries and messages. We appreciate every reaction, comment, and share, and we invite you to continue following us!

The entire telephone interviewing system was tested in the period from September 2014 to January 2015 by conducting three surveys on agricultural farms in the field of crop production statistics. After successfully conducting the testing phase of the system, the Croatian Bureau of Statistics gradually expanded the use of the telephone interviewing method to other survey researches. Today, the CATI method is used, for example, to collect information on trips made by the domestic population, on the usage of information and communication technologies in households, on the labour force, on agricultural family farms etc. This has fulfilled the initial goal – the modernisation of the data collection system, enabling faster and more efficient data gathering, which has resulted in significant financial savings.

The Croatian Bureau of Statistics continuously strives to improve its methods, work organisation, and standards of communication with respondents through the training of interviewers and CATI centre staff. Every year, data is collected from 55 – 60 thousand respondents via telephone interviewing using the CATI method, with the random sample selection carried out by a professional department. To accommodate respondents, interviews are also conducted in the afternoon and on Saturdays.

You can read more about the work of the Croatian Bureau of Statistics’ Centre for telephone interviewing in the article 10th anniversary of the Croatian Bureau of Statistics’ Centre for telephone interviewing. For additional information about the survey implementation process at the Croatian Bureau of Statistics – including what precedes data collection, how the need for certain statistical indicators is assessed, the interviewing process, and data protection – learn more in the article Survey research – from the first question to the final data.

GeoSTAT enables the interactive cartographic presentation of official statistical data of the Republic of Croatia. This portal links numbers to geographic space, making data visually accessible and easy to understand for a wide range of users – from citizens and the media to experts and decision-makers.

The portal allows the display of data from numerous statistical domains at various spatial levels: from the national level, counties, cities, municipalities, and settlements, down to a 1 km² grid. GeoSTAT also offers a range of features that further simplify the use of the portal:

• An interactive toolbar with features such as object identification, measurement and drawing tools, colour and class adjustments in the legend, layer overlay, timeline animation, report generation, and sharing views on social media, among others
• Graphical data displays in pyramid, pie, bar, ribbon, and ring charts
• Data download in Excel format for further analysis
• Adding external layers via WMS and WFS services, enabling the integration of data from other institutions
• Mobile device and touchscreen compatibility, enhancing accessibility and ease of use.

GeoSTAT is the result of years of development and was funded by the European Union through the IPA 2012 project. Its purpose is clear – to bring official statistics closer to users through a spatial dimension, encourage its use in everyday life, and enable informed decision-making based on data.

The Croatian Bureau of Statistics organises the Statistical Competition for high school students as part of its activities to promote statistical literacy. The goal of the project is to spark interest in statistics among students and teachers alike, and to demonstrate to high school students the various opportunities that applying their acquired statistical knowledge can open up in everyday life. In addition to enhancing the understanding of statistics, the competition also promotes teamwork and encourages students to collaborate in achieving common goals.

The competition is team-based, meaning that each team consists of up to three students and one teacher as a mentor, and it is conducted online. The ninth edition of the Competition is currently in preparation. Each year, during the registration period, we run a promotional campaign that includes, among other activities, workshops in secondary schools and webinars for teacher mentors.

Each season, around 1 500 participants take part in the competition, and we are proud to highlight that many of our former winners are now successful university students, with some already entering the labour market – carrying with them an appreciation for the power and value of official statistics. We provide full support to our top teams during the European phase of the competition, where they compete with their peers from across Europe, and we proudly highlight that Croatian teams won second place in 2019 and third place in 2023.

The project is sponsored by the Ministry of Science, Education and Youth with the support of partners and jury members. In its first year (2017), the Statistical Competition was awarded the Grand PRix by the Croatian Public Relations Association for excellence in public relations within the bodies of state administration of the Republic of Croatia.

As part of Eurostat’s project Technical Assistance in Business Statistics – Services Producer Price Index and Final Energy Consumption in Agriculture, the Croatian Bureau of Statistics developed a web application for viewing the short-term business statistics (STS) database. The application is a modern and interactive tool for managing and disseminating short-term business statistics. It provides users with centralised access to an extended range of data, enabling availability, browsing, and searching of all short-term business statistics indicators in one place.

Users have access to indicators from the fields of industry, construction, retail trade, and service activities. Browsing and searching of consolidated short-term business statistics data is enabled by data type (e.g., from the field of industry), time period, activity, seasonal adjustment, and time dimension (e.g., base year). The database also includes data from the field of business demography (business registrations, declared bankruptcies, and cessation of business entities) as well as foreign trade (import price indices). All data can be viewed in tabular format as well as in graphical form. The short-term business statistics database also offers the option to download data in several formats (.xlsx, .csv) at all levels and with elements available in the search.

Statistical literacy is an important skill for all young people; it can help them better understand statistical data and make informed decisions in today’s complex world. The Croatian Bureau of Statistics, as the main producer, disseminator, and coordinator of official statistics in the Republic of Croatia, invests significant efforts in promoting statistical literacy. Therefore, the intention behind developing the STEDy portal was to bring statistics closer primarily to students, in a different and more engaging way. However, STEDy is also intended for professors and teachers, who can use the portal as a tool in their teaching and work.

STEDy is not limited to theoretical knowledge but also provides practical examples, interactive visualisations, and exercises where users can immediately test their understanding and application of statistics. STEDy currently consists of five chapters (the original edition was updated in 2023 with six new topics): Chapter 1 – Data description (twelve topics); Chapter 2 – Basic concepts of probability (three topics); Chapter 3 – Random variable (six topics); Chapter 4 – distributions (six topics); and Chapter 5 – Statistical inference (seven topics).

Each topic is dedicated to a specific statistical concept, ranging from basic measures (e.g., median, mode) to more complex methods (e.g., predictive models). The portal is bilingual (Croatian/English).

The University of Osijek participated in the project implementation, with professors from the Department of Mathematics responsible for preparing the portal's content. The portal was published on a publicly accessible server (open-source web application), and in 2021, the Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia was granted consent for its use.

The 2020 Agricultural Census collected data on land tenure, the manner of using agricultural land, the area of orchards, olive groves and vineyards, as well as the number of fruit trees and vines; irrigation; livestock; labour force in agriculture; other gainful activities; animal housing; manure management; machines and equipment; rural development measures; and organic agricultural production.

For the purposes of the 2020 Agricultural Census, data were collected both directly from census units and from administrative data sources. Census units included private family farms, business entities, and parts of business entities that perform agricultural activities. Data from private family farms were collected by enumerators using the computer-assisted personal interviews, while business entities submitted their data online via an electronic form.

More information about the 2020 Agricultural Census and its results is available at the following link: Agricultural Census 2020

The first independent agricultural census was conducted in the territory of the Republic of Croatia from 1 to 15 June 2003. Prior to that, a census was conducted in 1960, and in 1969 it was carried out using the sample method. In 1971, 1981, 1991 and 2001, agricultural censuses were an integral part of the population census.

The 2021 Census of Population, Households and Dwellings in the Republic of Croatia is the most extensive and complex statistical survey. It covered the following three units: population, households, and dwellings. The goal of the Census is to determine data on the number and spatial distribution of the population, its basic demographic, educational, migration, economic, and other characteristics, as well as the characteristics of households and dwellings.

The Census was conducted based on the status as of 31 August 2021, at 00:00, which is considered the reference moment of the Census. The Census was conducted in two ways. From 13 to 26 September 2021, persons were able to enumerate themselves independently by completing the electronic version of the Census questionnaire that had been made available via the e-Citizens digital portal and at the same time provide data about their household and dwelling. From 27 September to 14 November 2021, enumerators were using electronic devices to enumerate all census units that had not been enumerated independently, and had scrutinised the data collected by independent enumeration.

All data collected in the 2021 Census are confidential and used exclusively for statistical purposes, in accordance with the laws regarding official statistics. The Census results are used not only for analysing the situation determined by the Census but also for analysing changes compared to previous censuses and for forecasting future trends of the respective phenomenon. More information about the 2021 Census and its results is available at the following link 2021 Census.

By a decision of the Croatian Parliament in April 2025, the Central Population Register Act was promulgated, laying the groundwork for its establishment and effectively ending the practice of conducting a population census every ten years. The Croatian Bureau of Statistics will continue to carry out population censuses, but now within an environment of advanced digitalisation and data comprehensiveness.

The first session of the Committee for Official Statistics System of the Republic of Croatia was held on 3 June 2022 in Zagreb. The meeting of the Committee was attended by the representatives from the Croatian National Bank, the Ministry of Finance, the Croatian Institute of Public Health, the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development, and the Ministry of Agriculture, and chaired by Lidija Brković, Director General of the Croatian Bureau of Statistics.

At their first meeting, the Committee members adopted the Rules of Procedure of the Committee, which regulate the tasks and working methods of the Committee, as well as other matters important for its work. Among other things, they also exchanged experiences related to the practice of producing official statistics.

The new website is aligned in terms of accessibility and content organisation with other government bodies hosted on the Central State Portal, while users can find statistical data on the Data Dissemination and Collection Portal. On that same portal, for the purpose of data collection, reporting units can access forms that are categorised by statistical domains.

During the development of the Data Dissemination and Collection Portal (https://podaci.dzs.hr/en/), special attention was given to integrating the principles of the European Statistics Code of Practice regarding the accessibility and clarity of statistical data among other things. In line with this, the newly developed functionalities ensure simple and fast access to statistical information. The new website offers users a clear and intuitive interface, a responsive design adapted to all devices and browsers, and content presented in a visually appealing way. In addition to significantly improving user navigation, the website enables users to search for statistical data according to their specific needs and to download the data in formats suitable for further use.

On the homepage, users can find not only general information about the scope of work of the Croatian Bureau of Statistics, but also tools that make statistics more attractive and easier to understand — such as various data visualisations in the form of infographics and interactive digital publications. A new feature is the News section, where users can find up-to-date information about the latest data releases and activities of the Croatian Bureau of Statistics.

The peer review covers all statistical authorities of the European Statistical System (ESS) that develop, produce, and disseminate European statistics.

The peer review of each system is carried out in four phases: completion of self-assessment questionnaires, assessment of the questionnaires by peer reviewers, a peer review visit, and preparation of a report on the results of the review.

The third round of ESS peer reviews started in the first quarter of 2021 and lasted until mid-2023 in all Member States of the EU and EFTA as well as Eurostat. The first institution who was assessed was Eurostat. This assessment was carried out by the European Statistical Governance Advisory Board (ESGAB).

Preparations for the third round of the peer review in Croatia began in spring 2022, and the peer review was conducted by checking the prepared documentation and visiting Zagreb from 13 to 17 March 2023. During the visit, in addition to meetings with representatives of the Croatian Bureau of Statistics and other producers of official statistics, the peer reviewers also held meetings with external stakeholders such as the Statistical Council, key data providers, main data users, and the scientific community.

The Peer Review Report confirmed that the Croatian statistical system is compliant with the European Statistics Code of Practice. The report also outlines progress and achievements compared to the previous round of peer reviews, confirms compliance with the Code of Practice, and provides recommendations for further improvements. Based on these recommendations, the Croatian Bureau of Statistics has prepared a set of improvement actions, which are planned to be implemented by 2027.

In the process of switching to the new official currency, the existing time series expressed in kuna were converted and published in the new currency, the euro, in order to enable continuity in monitoring the movement of certain phenomena in society and the economy. The Croatian Bureau of Statistics has converted 166 time series of data originally expressed in kuna. They were converted into euro using a fixed conversion rate (1 euro = 7.53450 kuna), in accordance with the Act on the Introduction of the Euro as the Official Currency in the Republic of Croatia and the Instruction on the Conversion of Statistical Data Time Series within the Competence of the Croatian Bureau of Statistics from the Currency Kuna to the Currency Euro.

During the transition to the euro, it was necessary to make changes to the data collection forms. In addition to the change from kuna to euro, in some cases this also required the addition of new variables for which data would be collected and processed (e.g. data on industrial producer prices or data on industrial production expressed by markets, given the change of the euro area market to which the Republic of Croatia has belonged since 1 January 2023). Additionally, two new surveys were established for the purposes of the introduction of the euro: the Monthly Survey on the Import Price Index and the survey entitled Average Retail Prices of Goods and Services in Kuna and Euro in the Republic of Croatia.

Another activity carried out during the process of introducing the euro as the official currency was the adaptation of information systems and other application solutions used in the production of official statistics, i.e. for the collection, processing, and dissemination of statistical data. This included all necessary changes to the structure of databases and files, as well as the adaptation of individual applications and other IT solutions.

Regarding the dissemination of statistical data, with the introduction of the euro, statistical data expressed in the national currency and relating to the period after 1 January 2023 are published in euro. The first data expressed in euro were published in mid-March 2023 and related to the average monthly net and gross earnings of persons in paid employment for January 2023. Statistical data relating to the period up to 31 December 2022, expressed in the national currency, are presented in kuna and at the fixed euro exchange rate.

Given that we are continuously working to improve and modernise the process of dissemination of statistical data, in 2024, we have prepared a digital version the publication “Croatia in Figures”, focusing on a more modern and visually appealing presentation that will allow the data to be more easily understood and interpreted. The new concept includes visualisations and interactive graphs, and in addition to the data in tables, which can be downloaded in Excel format, it also includes accompanying texts that place the information in a broader social context.

Demographic trends, labour market developments, macroeconomic indicators such as prices and gross domestic product, industrial production, foreign trade, agricultural output, as well as education, health, and pension insurance are just some of the areas covered. In addition to the most recent data, time series data by year are also available. Downloading in Excel format provides additional options for using the data in everyday work.

The publication is intended for a broad audience, as it provides an overview of various indicators covering all aspects of society in a simple, understandable, and visually appealing way. It is of invaluable importance to decision-makers in the public sector, private enterprises, the academic community, as well as the general public. We believe that Croatia in Figures is a valuable source of reliable and high-quality statistical data and that it helps better understand our society – both in terms of the challenges we face and the potential of our country.

On 25 January 2022, the Council of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) decided to open accession negotiations with the Republic of Croatia, and on 10 June 2022, the Government of the Republic of Croatia adopted the Accession Process Plan to the OECD at the ministerial level. In April 2023, the first visit of representatives from the OECD Committee on Statistics and Statistical Policy to the Croatian Bureau of Statistics took place, aimed at assessing the national statistical system and official statistics of the Republic of Croatia. The second visit of the Committee members took place in February 2024, and the delegation from the Croatian Bureau of Statistics participated in the meeting of the OECD Committee on Statistics and Statistical Policy held on 17 and 18 June 2024.

The main purpose of these visits was to further assess the readiness and capacity of the Croatian statistical system to meet its obligations to the OECD. Throughout the entire period, continuous communication was maintained with Committee representatives, along with the completion of complex questionnaires regarding the readiness and capacity of the Croatian statistical system. The process was concluded in 2024 with a decision by the Committee on Statistics and Statistical Policy, which gave a positive assessment of the Croatian statistical system and decided on the full membership of the Republic of Croatia in the work of that Committee. With this, the Croatian Bureau of Statistics became one of the institutions that successfully completed its accession process, thereby contributing to the continued smooth accession of the Republic of Croatia to the OECD.

Since Croatia’s accession to the OECD, the task of the Croatian Bureau of Statistics has been to oversee the legal and institutional framework for statistics, maintain high-quality statistical and data infrastructures aligned with the policies and best practices of OECD member countries, and integrate into the OECD’s reporting and information systems.

In October 2024, the European Statistical System Committee agreed that the focus of DGINS 2025, the conference of heads of national statistical institutes co-organised by the Croatian Bureau of Statistics and Eurostat, will be on the topic of “European Tourism Statistics: A Forward-Looking and Innovative Response to 21st Century User Needs”.

The conference will discuss the future of tourism statistics, especially regarding the following topics:

• user needs and their interaction with official statistics,
• innovative practices as a tool for responding to user needs,
• measuring the economic importance of tourism using the internationally recognised framework of tourism satellite accounts and measuring the sustainability of tourism,
• the role of statistical frameworks and methodologies in measuring the sustainability of tourism,
• a strategy to improve data collection, coherence, and comparability across regions and countries,
• shaping future guidelines: How to balance user needs and producer constraints? How to meet existing and new user needs through unconventional sources and methods? How to combine and integrate these sources and methods into a multi-source and multidisciplinary process of statistical production?

More information about DGINS 2025 is available on the conference website: DGINS 2025.

The first European Conference on Quality in Official Statistics was held in 2001, marking the beginning of a continuous effort to make official statistics of the European Union more accurate, reliable and useful. Every two years since then, one of the national statistical institutes of the European Union has organised this conference, bringing together experts, scientists, and others interested in improving the quality of official statistics.

Q2026 will take place from 3 to 5 June 2026 and will focus, among other things, on exploring institutional frameworks that support effective quality management in official statistics, new trends and challenges in maintaining quality, especially in the context of the increasing use of artificial intelligence and its potential impact on the quality of official statistics. Special attention will be paid to the role of quality as a basis for building and maintaining user trust. A series of useful training sessions on key methods and tools for improving the quality of official statistics will also be held on 2 June 2026, the day before the conference.

All relevant information will be available on the conference website: www.Q2026.hr

We’re looking forward to seeing you in Šibenik in June 2026!