Baby Recession: Birth Rate In Croatia Among Lowest In EU

It seems that the global financial crisis is not just taking its toll on the economy in Croatia. Fewer couples are now deciding to start a family, putting Croatia’s birthrate amongst the lowest in the EU.

According to Eurostat data, the ‘baby recession’ has seen births in Europe between 2008 and 2011 drop 3.5% from 5.6 million to 5.4 million. In Croatia the number of births in the same period has dropped 6%. Only 3 countries have lower rates, Hungary, Romania and Poland.

The problem some believe lies with the nation’s politicians and the lack of stimulant packages for young families.

“As in other countries that do not have natality stimulation policies for families, whether it is a time of prosperity or crisis, there shows downward demographic trends. If the economic situation was better, it would act as a small stimulant in Croatia to stimulate the birth rate, but without proper family and population politics there would not be any significant shift,” said demographer Andelko Akrap to Poslovni dnevnik.