First Release

Year: LXII.
Zagreb, 28 January 2026
RAD-2025-2-6/4
ISSN 1334-0557

PERSONS IN PAID EMPLOYMENT, BY SEX AND BY COUNTIES,
FOURTH QUARTER OF 2025

Data on persons in employment in legal entities, by counties, were obtained by processing data from the JOPPD form. The processing was performed according to the predominant NKD 2007 activity and place of permanent/temporary residence. Therefore, the data by activities are not comparable with the monthly data published so far.

In December 2025, the largest number of persons in employment was in the City of Zagreb, 380 444, which accounted for 22.2% of the total number of persons in employment in the Republic of Croatia. The lowest number of persons in employment was in the County of Lika-Senj, 17 663, which accounted for 1.0% of the total number of persons in employment in the Republic of Croatia. The largest number of employed women was in the City of Zagreb, 187 382, which accounted for 23.3%, and the lowest in the County of Lika-Senj, 7 977, which accounted for 1.0% of the total number of employed women in the Republic of Croatia.

In December 2025 compared to December 2024, the number of persons in employment in legal entities decreased in 20 counties, with the largest decrease being recorded in the County of Varaždin, of 3.5%. The number of employed women in legal entities increased in four counties, with the largest increase being recorded in the County of Slavonski Brod-Posavina, of 1.5%.

For the period from October to December 2025, compared to the same period of the previous year, the number of persons in employment in legal entities increased in six counties, with the largest increase being recorded in the County of Slavonski Brod-Posavina, of 0.8%. Fifteen counties had a decrease in the number of persons in employment, with the largest decrease being recorded in the counties of Varaždin and Virovitica-Podravina, of 2.5% in each.

The number of employed women in legal entities increased in nine counties, ranging from 0.1% in the County of Split-Dalmatia to 1.8% in the County of Slavonski Brod-Posavina. A decrease in the number of employed women was recorded in 11 counties, ranging from 0.1% in each of the counties of Karlovac, Primorje-Gorski Kotar and Osijek-Baranja to 2.0% in the County of Virovitica-Podravina. The number of employed women in legal entities remained unchanged in the County of Zagreb.

The highest registered unemployment rate in December 2025 was recorded in the County of Virovitica-Podravina, of 9.4%, which was 4.8 percentage points higher than the registered unemployment rate in the Republic of Croatia. The lowest registered unemployment rate was recorded in the County of Istria, of 2.3%, which was 2.3 percentage points lower than the registered unemployment rate in the Republic of Croatia. The highest registered unemployment rate for women was recorded in the County of Osijek-Baranja, of 11.1%, which was 5.9 percentage points higher than the registered unemployment rate for women in the Republic of Croatia. The lowest registered unemployment rate for women was recorded in the City of Zagreb, of 2.5%, which was 2.7 percentage points lower than the registered unemployment rate for women in the Republic of Croatia.

Detailed data by activities can be downloaded from the link Statistics in Line.

 

1 LABOUR FORCE ACCORDING TO ADMINISTRATIVE SOURCES, BY COUNTIES AND BY SEX, 2025
County Active population (labour force)1) Total persons in employment1)2) Unemployed persons Registered unemployment rate, %1)
X XI XII X XI XII X XI XII X XI XII
Republic of Croatia 1 832 686 1 816 342 1 799 927 1 754 861 1 735 230 1 717 302  77 825  81 112  82 625 4,2 4,5 4,6
Women  856 747  850 242  848 630  815 256  807 020  804 697  41 491  43 222  43 933 4,8 5,1 5,2
Zagreb  151 956  151 836  151 615  147 630  147 560  147 406  4 326  4 276  4 209 2,8 2,8 2,8
Women  68 282  68 337  68 744  66 061  66 105  66 577  2 221  2 232  2 167 3,3 3,3 3,2
Krapina-Zagorje  56 652  56 404  56 234  55 073  54 856  54 757  1 579  1 548  1 477 2,8 2,7 2,6
Women  25 272  25 212  25 353  24 468  24 408  24 593   804   804   760 3,2 3,2 3,0
Sisak-Moslavina  59 136  58 851  58 864  55 010  54 813  54 904  4 126  4 038  3 960 7,0 6,9 6,7
Women  26 836  26 705  26 958  24 675  24 579  24 839  2 161  2 126  2 119 8,1 8,0 7,9
Karlovac   47 791  47 619  47 552  46 290  46 097  45 982  1 501  1 522  1 570 3,1 3,2 3,3
Women  21 972  21 973  22 149  21 167  21 129  21 246   805   844   903 3,7 3,8 4,1
Varaždin   74 530  74 665  74 097  72 458  72 692  72 164  2 072  1 973  1 933 2,8 2,6 2,6
Women  33 915  33 936  33 864  32 739  32 844  32 819  1 176  1 092  1 045 3,5 3,2 3,1
Koprivnica-Križevci   42 552  42 562  42 339  41 243  41 191  41 031  1 309  1 371  1 308 3,1 3,2 3,1
Women  19 089  19 154  19 231  18 406  18 436  18 566   683   718   665 3,6 3,7 3,5
Bjelovar-Bilogora   40 614  40 541  40 454  38 718  38 636  38 557  1 896  1 905  1 897 4,7 4,7 4,7
Women  18 674  18 645  18 734  17 677  17 646  17 736   997   999   998 5,3 5,4 5,3
Primorje-Gorski Kotar  131 743  129 187  127 333  127 527  124 942  123 035  4 216  4 245  4 298 3,2 3,3 3,4
Women  62 300  61 111  60 662  60 010  58 821  58 360  2 290  2 290  2 302 3,7 3,7 3,8
Lika-Senj  19 761  19 144  18 768  18 832  18 111  17 663   929  1 033  1 105 4,7 5,4 5,9
Women  8 940  8 700  8 548  8 475  8 161  7 977   465   539   571 5,2 6,2 6,7
Virovitica-Podravina  28 175  27 598  27 988  25 601  25 006  25 367  2 574  2 592  2 621 9,1 9,4 9,4
Women  12 855  12 629  12 907  11 481  11 256  11 522  1 374  1 373  1 385 10,7 10,9 10,7
Požega-Slavonia  24 915  24 790  24 674  23 486  23 397  23 297  1 429  1 393  1 377 5,7 5,6 5,6
Women  11 359  11 283  11 354  10 597  10 522  10 597   762   761   757 6,7 6,7 6,7
Slavonski Brod-Posavina  54 316  54 318  53 981  50 670  50 588  50 215  3 646  3 730  3 766 6,7 6,9 7,0
Women  23 178  23 180  23 334  21 109  21 063  21 228  2 069  2 117  2 106 8,9 9,1 9,0
Zadar  75 139  73 125  72 269  72 420  70 037  69 002  2 719  3 088  3 267 3,6 4,2 4,5
Women  35 372  34 495  34 270  33 931  32 859  32 495  1 441  1 636  1 775 4,1 4,7 5,2
Osijek-Baranja  114 312  113 646  113 501  103 748  103 212  103 003  10 564  10 434  10 498 9,2 9,2 9,2
Women  53 834  53 581  53 789  47 726  47 547  47 800  6 108  6 034  5 989 11,3 11,3 11,1
Šibenik-Knin  42 636  41 439  40 726  39 994  38 444  37 627  2 642  2 995  3 099 6,2 7,2 7,6
Women  20 042  19 571  19 356  18 793  18 136  17 848  1 249  1 435  1 508 6,2 7,3 7,8
Vukovar-Srijem  56 642  56 861  56 633  52 732  52 752  52 474  3 910  4 109  4 159 6,9 7,2 7,3
Women  25 794  25 960  26 047  23 602  23 677  23 725  2 192  2 283  2 322 8,5 8,8 8,9
Split-Dalmatia  201 572  198 851  194 743  189 567  185 056  180 334  12 005  13 795  14 409 6,0 6,9 7,4
Women  96 410  95 475  94 362  90 276  88 390  86 940  6 134  7 085  7 422 6,4 7,4 7,9
Istria  110 758  107 191  104 301  108 880  105 031  101 945  1 878  2 160  2 356 1,7 2,0 2,3
Women  51 379  49 702  48 556  50 389  48 571  47 292   990  1 131  1 264 1,9 2,3 2,6
Dubrovnik-Neretva  61 383  59 982  57 783  58 712  56 625  53 743  2 671  3 357  4 040 4,4 5,6 7,0
Women  28 443  27 866  27 055  27 063  26 158  24 992  1 380  1 708  2 063 4,9 6,1 7,6
Međimurje  46 103  45 832  45 617  44 281  44 030  43 822  1 822  1 802  1 795 4,0 3,9 3,9
Women  20 978  20 866  20 948  20 005  19 907  19 995   973   959   953 4,6 4,6 4,5
City of Zagreb  391 344  391 328  389 925  381 333  381 582  380 444  10 011  9 746  9 481 2,6 2,5 2,4
Women  191 583  191 685  192 241  186 366  186 629  187 382  5 217  5 056  4 859 2,7 2,6 2,5

1) Provisional data.
2) Data on non-residents are not presented. See Notes on Methodology.

2 PERSONS IN PAID EMPLOYMENT IN LEGAL ENTITIES, BY COUNTIES AND BY SEX, 2025
County Persons in paid employment in legal entities1)2) Indices1)
X XI XII X ‒ XII X 2025
X 2024		 XI 2025
XI 2024		 XII 2025
XII 2024		 X ‒ XII 2025
X ‒ XII 2024
Republic of Croatia 1 518 445 1 502 833 1 487 287 1 502 855 99,9 99,5 98,6 99,3
Women  717 779  711 515  710 087  713 127 100,2 99,9 99,2 99,8
Zagreb  133 200  133 104  133 026  133 110 101,0 100,4 99,6 100,3
Women  60 069  60 115  60 602  60 262 100,4 100,0 99,5 100,0
Krapina-Zagorje  47 619  47 397  47 363  47 460 100,3 99,2 98,2 99,2
Women  21 773  21 713  21 920  21 802 100,4 99,7 99,0 99,7
Sisak-Moslavina  47 808  47 599  47 755  47 721 99,4 98,9 98,5 98,9
Women  21 742  21 642  21 925  21 770 99,9 99,7 99,3 99,6
Karlovac   40 288  40 114  40 033  40 145 100,3 99,2 98,5 99,3
Women  18 454  18 428  18 550  18 477 100,7 99,6 99,4 99,9
Varaždin   63 251  63 418  62 960  63 210 97,9 97,9 96,5 97,5
Women  28 884  28 966  28 972  28 941 98,6 98,5 97,2 98,1
Koprivnica-Križevci   35 319  35 271  35 159  35 250 99,1 98,6 97,6 98,4
Women  15 958  16 004  16 136  16 033 99,4 99,3 98,9 99,2
Bjelovar-Bilogora   33 076  33 000  32 987  33 021 99,1 99,2 98,3 98,9
Women  15 353  15 326  15 446  15 375 100,4 100,5 99,7 100,2
Primorje-Gorski Kotar  108 539  106 346  104 807  106 564 100,2 99,9 98,9 99,7
Women  52 460  51 438  51 058  51 652 100,2 99,9 99,5 99,9
Lika-Senj  15 839  15 172  14 792  15 268 100,6 101,2 99,0 100,3
Women  7 232  6 953  6 813  6 999 100,3 101,5 99,3 100,3
Virovitica-Podravina  20 296  19 744  20 194  20 078 99,4 96,0 97,1 97,5
Women  9 360  9 157  9 446  9 321 100,1 96,7 97,4 98,0
Požega-Slavonia  19 727  19 657  19 599  19 661 99,5 99,8 98,9 99,4
Women  9 175  9 110  9 192  9 159 100,4 100,4 100,0 100,3
Slavonski Brod-Posavina  42 747  42 664  42 329  42 580 101,3 101,2 100,0 100,8
Women  17 901  17 883  18 066  17 950 102,0 102,0 101,5 101,8
Zadar  59 756  57 764  56 907  58 142 101,1 100,3 99,2 100,2
Women  28 946  28 072  27 802  28 273 101,3 100,7 99,4 100,5
Osijek-Baranja  89 772  89 217  89 031  89 340 99,8 99,2 98,5 99,2
Women  41 867  41 682  41 940  41 830 100,4 100,0 99,3 99,9
Šibenik-Knin  32 838  31 598  30 865  31 767 100,6 99,4 98,2 99,4
Women  16 051  15 537  15 294  15 627 100,5 99,7 98,7 99,6
Vukovar-Srijem  43 900  43 954  43 696  43 850 100,0 100,1 99,2 99,8
Women  20 116  20 199  20 258  20 191 100,8 101,4 100,7 101,0
Split-Dalmatia  158 996  155 969  151 758  155 574 100,1 100,0 98,9 99,7
Women  78 183  77 014  75 743  76 980 100,4 100,5 99,4 100,1
Istria  88 991  85 820  82 888  85 900 100,8 100,8 99,6 100,4
Women  42 475  41 014  39 798  41 096 100,9 101,3 100,2 100,8
Dubrovnik-Neretva  48 924  47 640  44 983  47 182 101,4 101,1 99,7 100,7
Women  23 483  22 918  21 881  22 761 101,7 101,4 100,2 101,1
Međimurje  39 887  39 636  39 458  39 660 99,4 98,4 97,5 98,5
Women  18 104  18 009  18 118  18 077 99,5 98,5 98,2 98,7
City of Zagreb  347 016  347 177  346 167  346 787 99,2 98,8 98,0 98,7
Women  169 953  170 159  170 959  170 357 99,5 99,2 98,7 99,1
Non-residents   656   572   530   586 94,0 82,7 79,5 85,5
Women   240   176   168   195 98,0 75,2 77,1 83,8

1) Provisional data.
2) Activity sections T (Activities of households as employers; undifferentiated goods- and services-producing activities of households for own use) and U (Activities of extraterritorial organisations and bodies) as well as their divisions are not presented in this First Release since they were not covered by the survey.

NOTES ON METHODOLOGY

Data sources

The total number of persons in employment includes persons employed in legal entities, in trades and crafts and free lances, as well as insured persons – private farmers.

Data on persons in employment in legal entities were gathered by processing data from the Report on Income, Income Tax and Surtax as well as Contributions for Mandatory Insurances (JOPPD form), which has been in effect since 1 January 2014.

All persons or entities that are the payers of income for which the income tax regulations prescribe the obligation of accounting and paying deduction tax are under the obligation to submit the JOPPD form.

Data on persons in employment in crafts and trades and free lances are processed according to the records on pension insurance beneficiaries obtained from the Croatian Pension Insurance Institute.

The Croatian Pension Insurance Institute provides data on employed insured persons − private farmers.

Data on the number of unemployed persons are obtained from the Croatian Employment Service.

Coverage and comparability

The survey on persons in paid employment in legal entities includes all persons who have signed a work contract, regardless of the type of work contract and whether they work full-time or less than full-time.

Non-residents are persons employed in legal entities on the territory of the Republic of Croatia who do not have permanent/temporary residence in the Republic of Croatia.

The survey on persons in crafts and trades and free lances includes owners and employees registered with the Croatian Institute for Pension Insurance.

Data are presented according to the predominant, main activity of the NKD 2007, while the monthly data published so far were presented according to the "pure" activity. This means that the processing, in addition to the main activity, was also performed according to secondary activities. Therefore, the data by activities are not comparable with the monthly data published so far.

Data on counties are presented according to the place of permanent/temporary residence by the territorial constitution in accordance with the Act on the Territories of Counties, Towns and Municipalities in the Republic of Croatia (NN, Nos 86/06, 125/06, 16/07, 95/08, 46/10, 145/10, 37/13, 44/13, 45/13 and 110/15).

Definitions

Persons in paid employment are all persons who have signed a work contract with an employer for a fixed or an unspecified period of time, irrespective of the type of ownership and of whether they work full-time or less than full-time.

Registered unemployment rate is calculated as a ratio of the number of unemployed persons to the total active population (labour force).

 

Abbreviations  
   
NKD 2007 National Classification of Activities, 2007 version
NN Narodne novine, official gazette of the Republic of Croatia

 

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