One of the activities to which Croatians dedicate a significant portion of their free time is contacting and getting together with friends and relatives. According to figures recently released by the EU's statistical office, 29.7% of Croatians meet their relatives and friends on a daily basis, which is 13 percentage points more than the EU average.
Twenty-nine percent of Croatians get together with friends, relatives or colleagues on a weekly basis, as against the EU average of 35.2%, and 11.7% do so once a month, which is close to the EU average of 12.9%.
On the other hand, 1.6% of Croatians have not contacted their family members in the past 12 months as against the EU average of 2.3%.
Cycling for leisure popular in Croatia
When it comes to physical activity, Croatians are more active than the average EU citizen. As many as 85.7% choose walking as physical activity as against 74.4% across the EU.
Nearly one in three Croatians (30.2%) chooses cycling as their pastime as against the EU average of 19.7%.
One in five Croatians (21.6%) does aerobics as against 4.4% across the EU.
Croatians engage less frequently in muscle-strengthening activities - one in ten does muscle building activities as against the EU average of one in four.
Attending cultural or sport events
Croatia does not fare well when it comes to attendance of cultural or sports events, given that less than a half of the nation attends such events once a year (43.7%). Only Bulgaria and Romania have worse results: 32% and 29.6%.
A cross-country analysis shows that in the whole of the EU, 67.3% of residents go to a sport or cultural event once a year.
Nearly three fifths of Croatians can't afford a week-long trip
According to available income for covering a week-long journey, 58.1% of Croatians live in households that cannot afford it once a year.
Only Romania has worse results, with two-thirds of its population unable to afford it.
On the other hand, only 13.8% of Danes cannot set aside funds from their income for a week-long trip.
When it comes to the feeling of safety, a mere 3% of Croatians say they have faced criminal activity, violence or vandalism in the community where they live as against 13% across the EU. Therefore, Croatia is perceived as one of the safest countries for living.