At the end of October 2026, the Croatian Employment Agency (HZZ) recorded 66,425 unemployed persons, a decrease of 11,400 people or 14.6 per cent compared with the same month last year. Compared with September, the number of unemployed persons increased by 3,830 people or 6.1 per cent.
During October, 16,792 people registered as unemployed, which is 7.1 per cent fewer than a year earlier. Of this number, 12,476 people came from employment, 1,746 from regular schooling, and 2,570 from inactivity.
12,962 people left the unemployment register during October. Of these, 7,029 entered employment, while 525 people started working based on other business activities.
The highest number of people entered employment in the manufacturing industry, with 1,128 individuals. In wholesale and retail trade, 983 people entered employment, and in education, 903 employed persons. In terms of the number of people who entered employment, the Split-Dalmatia County led with 986, followed by the City of Zagreb with 984, while the Osijek-Baranja County had 736 people.
The Split-Dalmatia County also had the highest number of registered unemployed persons, at 10,657. In the City of Zagreb, there were 9,013 registered unemployed persons, and in the Osijek-Baranja County, 7,757. The Osijek-Baranja County accounted for 11.7 per cent of all unemployed persons in Croatia.
20,075 people, or 30.2 per cent of registered unemployed persons, received cash benefits in October. Employers advertised 13,886 job vacancies through the HZZ, expressing a need for 21,519 workers, which is 6.1 per cent fewer than in the same month last year. According to a separate daily snapshot by the HZZ, there were 67,308 unemployed persons on the register, and 13,099 vacant job positions were advertised.
