Croatia

Croatia has navigated well the COVID-19 crisis and the price shocks following Russia’s war of aggression on Ukraine. It has achieved robust output growth, rising employment and improving well-being, although inflation has surged. Integration into the euro- and Schengen areas at the start of 2023 are testament to progress, and are providing a further fillip to the economy. Ensuring that fiscal policy is counter-cyclical and that lending supports productive investments can help contain inflationary pressures and sustain growth. Croatia’s ongoing and ambitious reforms and investments must continue for incomes to converge with OECD levels while also preparing for climate change. Reducing regulatory burdens, more responsive judicial processes, addressing corruption risks and improving the performance of state-owned enterprises can foster a more dynamic business environment with stronger growth by higher productivity firms. A big push to strengthen adults’ skills would ensure that employers can fill high-skilled positions and support rising incomes. Better engaging younger adults in work, encouraging older adults to work until the full retirement age, and attracting needed skills through immigration would reduce poverty risks, raise productivity and help Croatia adapt to an ageing population.

SPECIAL FEATURES: IMPROVING THE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT; A BETTER PERFORMING LABOUR MARKET

The demand for help with daily activities – so-called long-term care – is set to increase in Croatia. The population is ageing at a faster rate than the EU average, and by 2050, about one-third of the population is projected to be aged 65 years and over. In addition, with one of the highest poverty rates among older people in EU countries, at 30%, most older people cannot afford long-term care without public support. However, the long-term care system is both fragmented, with multiple benefits and services across different providers, and underfunded with public expenditure among the lowest across EU countries. As a result, long-term care remains unaffordable for most people even after receiving public support, leading to gaps in access, inequities, and a strong reliance on relatives to provide the bulk of long-term care. This report suggests avenues to improve access and equity of long-term care and proposes policy recommendations to enhance the support for family carers.

This paper investigates the demand for language skills using data on online job vacancies in 27 European Union member countries and the United Kingdom in 2021. Evidence indicates that although Europe remains a linguistically diverse labour market, knowing English confers unique advantages in certain occupations. Across countries included in the analyses, a knowledge of English was explicitly required in 22% of all vacancies and English was the sixth most required skill overall. A knowledge of German, Spanish, French and Mandarin Chinese was explicitly demanded in between 1% and 2% of all vacancies. One in two positions advertised on line for managers or professionals required some knowledge of English, on average across European Union member countries and across OECD countries in the sample. This compares with only one in ten positions for skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery workers and among elementary occupations.

This dataset includes pension funds statistics with OECD classifications by type of pension plans and by type of pension funds. All types of plans are included (occupational and personal, mandatory and voluntary). The OECD classification considers both funded and book reserved pension plans that are workplace-based (occupational pension plans) or accessed directly in retail markets (personal pension plans). Both mandatory and voluntary arrangements are included. The data includes plans where benefits are paid by a private sector entity (classified as private pension plans by the OECD) as well as those paid by a funded public sector entity. Data are presented in various measures depending on the variable: millions of national currency, millions of USD, thousands or unit.

This dataset comprises statistics pertaining to pensions indicators.It includes indicators such as occupational pension funds’asset as a % of GDP, personal pension funds’ asset as a % of GDP, DC pension plans’assets as a % of total assets. Pension fund and plan types are classified according to the OECD classification. Three dimensions cover this classification: pension plan type, definition type and contract type.

The Croatian government views digitalisation as a way to improve access to higher education and increase its attractiveness. To this end, it is investing in modernising digital infrastructure and building capacity to effectively integrate digital technologies into the higher education sector. This report provides an account of the activities and findings of a project on assessing and improving digital maturity in Croatian higher education institutions, which was carried out by the OECD and funded by the European Union. The objective of the project was to provide support and advice to Croatian authorities as they develop their policy approach to higher education digitalisation.

This report details the activities and outcomes of the project. It reviews international best practices related to enhancing the quality of digital higher education. It also provides technical guidance to public authorities on prioritising investments in various forms of digital infrastructure. Finally, it offers guidance to Croatian higher education institutions to support their strategic development process and their investment strategies with regard to digitalisation.

The paper is the second in a series of two papers mapping young people’s environmental sustainability competence in EU and OECD countries that were prepared as background for the forthcoming OECD Skills Outlook 2023 publication. The papers are the results of a collaboration between the OECD Centre for Skills and the European Commission - Joint Research Centre (Unit B4) on students’ environmental sustainability competence. The first paper is titled ‘Young people’s environmental sustainability competence: Emotional, cognitive, behavioural and attitudinal dimensions in EU and OECD countries.

The paper is the first in a series of two papers mapping young people’s environmental sustainability competence in EU and OECD countries that were prepared as background for the forthcoming OECD Skills Outlook 2023 publication. The papers are the results of a collaboration between the OECD Centre for Skills and the European Commission - Joint Research Centre (Unit B4) on students’ environmental sustainability competence. The second paper is titled: ‘The environmental sustainability competence toolbox: From leaving a better planet to our children to leaving better children for our planet’.

This dataset includes pension funds statistics with OECD classifications by type of pension plans and by type of pension funds. All types of plans are included (occupational and personal, mandatory and voluntary). The OECD classification considers both funded and book reserved pension plans that are workplace-based (occupational pension plans) or accessed directly in retail markets (personal pension plans). Both mandatory and voluntary arrangements are included. The data includes plans where benefits are paid by a private sector entity (classified as private pension plans by the OECD) as well as those paid by a funded public sector entity. Data are presented in various measures depending on the variable: millions of national currency, millions of USD, thousands or unit.

This dataset comprises statistics pertaining to pensions indicators.It includes indicators such as occupational pension funds’asset as a % of GDP, personal pension funds’ asset as a % of GDP, DC pension plans’assets as a % of total assets. Pension fund and plan types are classified according to the OECD classification. Three dimensions cover this classification: pension plan type, definition type and contract type.

This profile provides a concise and policy-relevant overview of health and the health system in Croatia as part of the broader series of the State of Health in the EU country profiles. It provides a short synthesis of: the health status in the country; the determinants of health, focussing on behavioural risk factors; the organisation of the health system; and the effectiveness, accessibility and resilience of the health system. This edition has a special focus on the impact of COVID‑19.

This profile is the joint work of the OECD and the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, in co-operation with the European Commission.

Countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia have clear aspirations to strengthen civic participation and increase prosperity for all. A highly skilled and knowledgeable population is critical to achieving these goals, which makes creating and maintaining high quality and equitable education systems a vital part of regional development efforts. Results from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) show that learning outcomes in the region have generally improved, but that the improvement has not been equitable. While countries in the region are producing some of the top performing students in the world, many other students are being left behind.

This report, jointly developed by OECD and UNICEF, analyses PISA data in detail to identify the strengths, challenges and unique features of education systems in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Drawing upon a rich knowledge base of education policy and practice in the region, it makes recommendations about how systems in the region can provide an excellent education for all students. This report will be of interest to regional policy-makers as well as individuals who wish to learn more about education in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.