Croatia has been experiencing a population decline, although it's believed its population has increased slightly to 4.25 million in 2015 from the 2011 census figure of 4.28 million. This makes Croatia the 128th most populous country in the world. Croatia has a population density of 76 people per square mile (196/square mile), which ranks 126th in the world.

The capital and largest city, Zagreb, has city population of 790,000. The next largest city is Split, with only 178,000 people.

Croatia Demographics

90.4% of the population is Croats. This makes Croatia the most ethnically homogeneous of the 6 countries of former Yugoslavia. Other groups include Serbs (4.4%), Bosniaks, Italians, Germans, Czechs, Romani and Hungarians.

Croats arrived in the area during the 7th century and founded the kingdom of Croatia, which retained sovereignty for almost 200 years. It was conquered and eventually declared independence once more in 1991. The Croatian War of Independence caused a sharp drop in population, with hundreds of thousands fleeing violence outside the country.

More than 86% of the population is Roman Catholic. The second-most common religion is Eastern Orthodoxy at 4%.

78% of Croatians speak at least one foreign language. About half speak English as a second language, while 34% speak German and 14% speak Italian.

Croatia Population Growth

Croatia is in demographic crisis and losing people each year. Its fertility rate is just 1.5 children per woman, one of the world's lowest, and its death rate has exceeded the birth rate since 1991. Natural growth is negative. Croatia is now ranked as the 14th fastest shrinking country in the world. It's predicted that Croatia's population will shrink to 3.1 million by 2050, after reaching its peak of 4.7 million in 1991.

Source: Roberta F.