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Youth Wiki

Croatia

Overview

Last update: 19 January 2026

Youth policy in Croatia

National youth policy falls within the scope of the Ministry of Science, Education and Youth  and is regulated by the Directorate for Support and Empowerment of youth within the Ministry.

The needs, potentials and possibilities for young people are not defined nor supported by the Law on Youth but with the strategy (The National Youth Strategy) which is considered to be the focal point for youth policy in Croatia. Nevertheless, the only normative act within the youth field is the Youth Councils Act which conceptualizes the basic aspects of local youth policy.

Youth policy is made through the participatory process of consultation with relevant youth organizations and tends to be supported in evidences produced by scientific research.

In Croatia, the share of young people, aged 15–30 is declining, while at the beginning of the 1990s there was around 21%, according to the last census (2023) there the share of young people in the population is 17.2%.

Ratio of young people in the total population on 1st January

Ratio of men and women in the youth population

Statistic references

References:

Ratio (%) of young people in the total population (2017): Eurostat, yth_demo_020 [data extracted on 4/09/2018].

Absolute number of young people on 1 January for the age group 15-29 (2017): Eurostat, yth_demo_010 [data extracted on 4/09/2018].

Ratio (%) of men and women in the youth population (2017): Eurostat, yth_demo_020 [data extracted on 4/09/2018].

Young immigrants from non-EU countries (2016): Eurostat, yth_demo_070 [data extracted on 4/09/2018].