The municipality of Jasenice in Zadar County recorded the highest vital index in Croatia last year: 25 children were born and only seven residents died, according to the latest data from the State Institute of Statistics.
The vital index in Jasenice, that is, the number of live births per 100 deaths, reached 357.19, the highest in the country. Three other municipalities in the Zadar County recorded more births than deaths last year: Pakoštane, Škabrnja and Bibinje.
At the national level, the picture remains unfavourable. In Croatia, 32,479 children were born in 2025, 410 more than the previous year, a 1.3 per cent increase. At the same time, 50,007 people died, 1,073 fewer than in 2024, but the natural increase remained negative.
The birth rate last year was 8.4 live births per thousand inhabitants, and the vital index at the state level was 64.9. For every 100 deaths, therefore, only slightly less than 65 children were born.
The State Institute of Statistics also published data on marriages, according to which almost a third of marriages in Croatia end in divorce.
