At the end of December 2024, 91,563 unemployed people were registered in the records of the Croatian Employment Service (CES), which is 20.4 percent or 23,419 people less than in December 2023, the CES reported on Friday.
However, compared to November last year, the number of unemployed people increased by 1.9 percent or 1,666 people.
According to daily data from the CES, 94,469 unemployed people are currently registered with the Institute, and 16,151 job vacancies have been advertised.
During December 2024, a total of 11,799 people were registered in the unemployment records, which is 1.3 percent less than in December 2023. Of these, 79.9 percent or 9,422 came from termination of employment. Last month, 298 people from full-time education (2.5 percent) and 2,079 from inactivity (17.6 percent) entered the unemployment register.
According to CES data, 10,133 people left the unemployment register, which is 0.9 percent less than in December 2023. Of these, 6,695 people were employed, 6,131 people or 91.6 percent on the basis of employment and 564 people or 8.4 percent on the basis of other business activities.
Registered employment on the basis of hiring was most often realized in wholesale and retail trade – 1,038 people or 16.9 percent. This is followed by accommodation, food preparation and service with 1,016 people or 16.6 percent, manufacturing with 632 people or 10.3 percent, and health and social care with 487 people or 7.9 percent.
In December last year, 3,438 people were removed from the unemployment register for other reasons, such as leaving the workforce (retirement, entry into full-time education), failure to comply with legal provisions (not actively looking for a job, unavailable for work), deregistration from the register, etc.
Among the counties, the leading employment sources were Split-Dalmatia County (1,003 people or 16.4 percent of the total number of people employed through hiring), the City of Zagreb (788 people or 12.9 percent), Osijek-Baranja County (661 people or 10.8 percent), and Vukovar-Srijem County (412 people or 6.7 percent).
The highest absolute number of registered unemployed was recorded in Split-Dalmatia County 16,588 (18.1 percent of the total number in Croatia), Osijek-Baranja County (11,569 or 12.6 percent) and the City of Zagreb (10,040 or 11 percent), and the lowest in Lika-Senj County (1,159 or 1.3 percent).
In December 2024, 23,092 people or 25.2 percent of the total number of unemployed used cash benefits. The number of cash benefits beneficiaries decreased compared to the same month in 2023 by 0.2 percent or 47 people.
