Croatia Among 15 ‘Oldest’ Nations in the World

With 17.2% of the population over the age of 65, Croatia is among the top 15 oldest countries in the world…

The age of Croatia’s population is a concerning one with negative economic and health care implications.

“Anything above 7% is critical,” Demographics Professor Marin Strmota told daily Vecernji list, “At one stage we were the 11th oldest in the world. In Croatia the young make up 15.2%, and anything under 20% indicates a regressive demographic structure.”

The average age in Croatia is a high 42-years-of-age. One hundred years ago there were 13 people over the age of 65 for every 100 under the age of 14. Today the situation is very different, with 115 people over the age of 65 for every 100 under 14.

“It is a problem in the EU also, but they are more developed than us and have worked out a population policy, and we have in 20 years only 3 times tried to do that and failed. Despite a steadily declining population, we are still failing to employ people,” said Strmota.

“There is no demographic pressure on the labour market, on the contrary in fact, it helps it, but labour still fails to get recruited. My biggest wish is a consensus of all the parties, the left and right, and an agreement on important issues that affect the demographics of Croatia, which will not change regardless of the party in power.”