Europe & Central Asia · HR
Generation Alpha & Beta
in Croatia
How many of each cohort Croatia has, how fast the next one is arriving, and what the fertility rate, median age and school system mean for both.
Croatia has approximately 523,750 Generation Alpha people (born 2010–2024), about 13.8% of its population, and roughly 54,936 Generation Beta children born since 2025. Its fertility rate is 1.5 and its child population is shrinking, projected -15% by 2040.
Births since 1 January 2025 at Croatia's own rate, less infant mortality. At 84 births a day it climbs steadily rather than visibly.
Born 2010–2024 — 13.8% of the population, aged 2–16 this year.
About 84 births a day, all of them Generation Beta.
Smaller than the Alpha cohort of 523,750.
Size of the Generation Alpha cohort
Share of the population under 15
Total fertility rate
Child population to 2040 (−15%)
Croatia against the world average
Key dates for Croatia
8 compulsory years from age 7.
Born on 1 January 2025, they reach Croatia's starting age of 7.
Under-15s change by −15% against today.
Eighteen years after the cohort opened.
The cohort closes on 31 December 2039; its youngest members enter school here.
School dates follow Croatia's own starting age of 7 and 8 compulsory years, so they differ from the global figures on our Generation Beta page.
Every figure on this page
Croatia in 20 numbers
| Indicator | Croatia | World average | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 3.8 million | — | #124 of 194 |
| Generation Alpha (born 2010–2024) | 523,750 | — | #136 of 194 |
| Gen Alpha share of population | 13.8% | — | #180 of 194 |
| Projected Gen Beta births 2025–39 | 443,110 | — | #136 of 194 |
| Births per year | 30,609 | — | #138 of 194 |
| Births per day | 84 | — | #136 of 194 |
| Under-15 share of population | 14% | 25% | #171 of 194 |
| Total fertility rate | 1.5 | 2.2 | #130 of 194 |
| Median age | 46 years | 31 years | #7 of 194 |
| Life expectancy at birth | 79 years | 73 years | #49 of 194 |
| Urban population | 58% | 58% | #120 of 194 |
| Internet use | 84% | 68% | #83 of 192 |
| Secondary school completion | 100% | 60% | #18 of 189 |
| School starting age | age 7 | — | #1 of 194 |
| Compulsory years of schooling | 8 years | — | #154 of 194 |
| Daily screen time, ages 8–12 | Not reported | — | |
| Cost of raising a child to 18 | Not reported | — | |
| Under-15 population change to 2040 | −15% | — | #137 of 194 |
| Youth dependency ratio | 22 per 100 adults | — | #166 of 194 |
| Mobile connections per 100 people | 122 | — | #73 of 194 |
Rank is out of the 194 countries profiled here and always runs highest first — so #1 on median age is the oldest country, not the youngest. World averages are population-weighted global figures and are shown only where a comparable one exists. Sources: UN World Population Prospects, World Bank Open Data, UNESCO and ITU, via our sources page.
1950 to 2023, with the UN projection to 2030
Croatia birth rate and fertility rate by year
About 31,400 babies were born in Croatia in 2023, and women had 1.47 children on average. Births have not been as high since 1950, when about 97,100 were born. Fertility first fell below the replacement level of 2.1 in 1968. Annual births are 23% lower than in 2000.
Fertility rate (children per woman)
Births per year
Thousands of births. Dashed: UN medium-variant projection.
| Year | Births | Fertility rate |
|---|---|---|
| 1950 | 97,100 | 2.93 |
| 1960 | 78,900 | 2.24 |
| 1970 | 63,300 | 1.88 |
| 1980 | 69,700 | 1.93 |
| 1990 | 56,900 | 1.63 |
| 2000 | 40,900 | 1.42 |
| 2010 | 43,400 | 1.55 |
| 2015 | 37,000 | 1.40 |
| 2020 | 33,500 | 1.48 |
| 2021 | 35,800 | 1.62 |
| 2022 | 33,000 | 1.53 |
| 2023 | 31,400 | 1.47 |
| 2025 projected | 31,000 | 1.47 |
| 2030 projected | 29,800 | 1.48 |
UN World Population Prospects 2024, republished by Our World in Data. Years to 2023 are UN estimates, which can differ from a country's own registered counts; later years are the UN medium-variant projection. Every country is ranked on fertility rate by country.
Regional peers
Elsewhere in Europe & Central Asia
Russia
26 million Generation Alpha
Germany
12 million Generation Alpha
United Kingdom
12 million Generation Alpha
France
12 million Generation Alpha
Italy
7 million Generation Alpha
Spain
6 million Generation Alpha
Ukraine
6 million Generation Alpha
Uzbekistan
11.8 million Generation Alpha
Run the numbers yourself
Tools that use this data
Gen Beta by Country Forecast
Where the 2.1 billion Betas will be born, and which countries shrink instead.
Under-15 Share by Country
The countries where Alpha and Beta make up the largest share of the population.
Global Child Population Table
Where the world's children are, ranked by region, with the direction each one is…
Median Age Calculator
What a country's median age implies about its Alpha and Beta share, its dependency…
School-Age Population Forecast
How many children will be of school age in any year, globally or nationally.
Where a tool takes a number it opens prefilled with Croatia's own figure rather than the world one, and every input stays editable. The rest are the same ranked tables for every country.
Frequently asked about Croatia
How many Gen Alpha are there in Croatia?
Approximately 523,750 people born between 2010 and 2024 live in Croatia, about 13.8% of the population.
How many Gen Beta children are there in Croatia?
Roughly 54,936 children have been born in Croatia since 1 January 2025, growing by about 3 every hour.
What is the fertility rate in Croatia?
Croatia has a total fertility rate of 1.5 children per woman, against a replacement level of 2.1 and a world average of about 2.2.
At what age do children start school in Croatia?
Compulsory schooling begins at age 7 in Croatia, and runs for 8 years.
Is the child population in Croatia growing or shrinking?
It is shrinking. The under-15 population is projected to change by -15% between now and 2040.
How many babies are born in Croatia each year?
About 31,400 in 2023, according to UN estimates, down from about 97,100 in 1950, the highest year in the UN series. The UN projects about 29,800 in 2030.
How has the fertility rate in Croatia changed over time?
It was 2.93 children per woman in 1950 and 1.47 in 2023. It first fell below the replacement level of 2.1 in 1968.
AlphaBetaMinds (2026). Generation Alpha and Generation Beta in Croatia. Retrieved from https://alphabetaminds.com/countries/croatia
The printed sheet keeps the headline numbers, the world comparison, the key dates, the full indicator table and this citation, and drops the navigation, the tools and the FAQ. It fits a page or two and needs no login.
Free to reproduce, commercially or not, with a credit and a link. Figures are estimates for 2025–2026 and are updated when the underlying sources are.