The steady decline in population had continued in 2017, with the number of inhabitants decreasing by 49,818 or 1.2% from 2016.
All Croatian regions recorded decreases in population except the City of Zagreb and Istria Country which observed relative increases of 0,05% and 0.06% respectively. The sharpest relative decreases were registered in Vukovar-Srijem County (-3.97%) and Pozega-Slavonia County (-3.25%).
The proportion of women in the total population was 51.7%, while men accounted for 48.3%. The lowest share of women was recorded in Lika-Senj County (50.2%) and the highest in the City of Zagreb (53.2%).
Population ageing continued last year, with the average age reaching 43.1 years (41.3 years for men and 44.8 years for women). This put Croatia among the oldest nations in Europe.
The proportion of young people (under 19) in the total population was 19.8%. The lowest proportion was recorded in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County (16.6%) and the highest in Medjimurje County (22.1%).
The proportion of the fertile contingent in the female population continued to fall, reaching 41.9% last year.
The largest proportion of population aged 65 and over was recorded in Lika-Senj County (24.7%) and the smallest in Medjimurje County (17.6%).
Some 52% of the population lived in only five of the 21 regions, most of them in the City of Zagreb (802,762 or 19.5%) and Split-Dalmatia County (449,610 or 10.9%). The least populated were Pozega-Slavonia County (69,583 inhabitants or 1.7%) and Lika-Senj County (45,943 inhabitants or 1.1%).