Croatia
Croatia’s digital economy and society are steadily progressing, with Croatian citizens being above-average users of the internet and their digital skills improving. However, Croatia’s low connectivity performance could slow down the further development of its digital economy and society.
Croatia’s digital transformation is facing several challenges. According to the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) 2022, Croatia holds the 21st position. Croatia lags behind the EU average in terms of digital transformation.
Internet governance
Croatian stakeholders are active participants in various internet governance forums and initiatives at the regional and global levels. Croatian stakeholders participate in the annual South Eastern European Dialogue on Internet Governance (SEE+) and Dialogue on Internet Governance (EuroDIG) events, which bring together stakeholders from the region to discuss digital policy-related issues and challenges. At the global level, Croatia is a member of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF).
Croatian also has a national internet governance initiative called Croatian IGF, which was established as a bottom-up, multistakeholder platform for discussing internet-related public policy issues.
Digital strategies
Croatia has adopted several digital strategies in recent years to guide its digital transformation process.
- The Digital Croatia Strategy 2032 aims to drive Croatia’s digital transformation over the coming decade, focusing on enhancing the nation’s digital economy, digitizing public administration and justice systems, improving digital connectivity, and fostering digital skill development and employment opportunities. This strategy seeks to increase the share of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector in Croatia’s gross domestic product (GDP). The strategy aligns with the broader European Union’s vision for the digital decade and includes specific objectives such as reaching the EU average Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) rating by 2030. It also emphasizes the importance of digital skills training for all citizens.
- Croatia adopted the National Plan for Broadband Development 2021-2027 in 2021. The plan responds to the European Gigabit Society objectives 2025, partially the 2030 digital targets and the 5G for Europe Action Plan. The Croatian plan aims to provide connectivity with download speeds of at least 100 Mbps to all households while providing government offices and public buildings, such as schools and health facilities, with symmetric connections of at least 1 Gbps. It also seeks 5G networks in all main cities and towns and along major highways.
- The National Development Strategy is the national strategic action plan for 2018 to 2030, which aims to support the twin digital and green transitions of Croatian society and economy.
Cybersecurity
Croatia has taken several steps to enhance its cybersecurity capabilities and resilience in recent years.
- In Croatia, the Information Systems Security Bureau (ZSIS) serves as the national authority for network and information security. The country has two computer emergency response teams (CERTs): CARNet, and ZSIS CERT. ZSIS CERT is responsible for coordinating security and incident response for entities using a Croatian IP address or .hr domain. Additionally, the ZSIS CSI has jurisdiction over security matters in Croatian government institutions.
- On 15 February 2024, a new law on CYBERSECURITY LAW came into force. This law regulates procedures and measures to achieve a high common level of cybersecurity, criteria for categorizing key and important entities, cybersecurity requirements for key and important entities, specific requirements for managing domain name registration data and monitoring their implementation, voluntary mechanisms for cybersecurity, competent authorities in the field of cybersecurity and their tasks and powers, expert supervision over the implementation of cybersecurity requirements, penalty provisions, monitoring the implementation of this law, and other issues of importance to the field of cybersecurity.
- In 2015 the Government of Croatia adopted the National Cyber Security Strategy and the Action plan for the implementation of the Strategy. The strategy outlines several key objectives, including enhancing the security, resilience, and reliability of cyberspace, improving overall safety through a coordinated approach, strengthening the capacity to prevent and recover from cyber-attacks, promoting harmonized education programs and research in e-services, establishing effective information-sharing mechanisms, raising awareness among cyberspace users, fostering collaboration among institutions, developing a robust legal framework for the cyber dimension, and encouraging international cooperation in cybersecurity.
AI strategies and policies
Croatia has been working towards developing a national AI strategy. As of the available information, the final version of the Strategy for the Development of Artificial Intelligence of Croatia has not been completed.
Croatia has a growing AI industry, with the Croatian Artificial Intelligence Association (CroAI) being founded in 2019. CroAI brings together leading companies and startups in the field of AI in Croatia and seeks to position Croatia as a country of unique opportunities for the development of human-centric AI through a culture of dialogue between entrepreneurs and decision-makers at the national and European levels.
As of February 2020, CroAI had approximately 30 tech companies involved in the development of solutions based on AI technology, including Microsoft, IBM, Oracle, and A1.
General profile
Official name: Republic of Croatia
National internet domain: HR
Area: 56,594 km2
Capital: Zagreb
Population: 4,105,493
Population growth: -3.74
Annual population growth rate for year t is the exponential rate of growth of midyear population from year t-1 to t, expressed as a percentage. Population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship.Life expectancy at birth: 77.72
Total years (2020year)Rule of law estimate: 0.30
Rule of Law captures perceptions of the extent to which agents have confidence in and abide by the rules of society, and in particular the quality of contract enforcement, property rights, the police, and the courts, as well as the likelihood of crime and violence. Estimate gives the country's score ranging from approximately -2.5 to 2.5 (Estimate 2021)
Regulatory quality estimate: 0.43
Political stability: 0.71
Economic info
Currency: Euro
Unemployment: 8.68
Unemployment, total (% of total labor force)GDP (current US$): 67,837,788,543.59
GDP growth (annual %): 10.45
GDP per capita (current US$): 17,398.77
Inflation, consumer prices (annual %): 2.55
GNI (current US$): 68,033,404,802.59
The Gross National Income, GNI, formerly referred to as gross national product (GNP), measures the total domestic and foreign value added claimed by residents, at a given period in time, usually a year, expressed in current US dollars using the World Bank Atlas method. GNI comprises GDP plus net receipts of primary income (compensation of employees and property income) from non-resident sources.Ease of doing business score: 73.62
The ease of doing business score benchmarked economies concerning their proximity to the best performance in each area measured by Doing Business for the year 2019. Estimate gives the country's score ranging from0 = lowest performance to 100 = best performance
Digital profile
Internet and social media penetration:
Individuals using the internet, total (%): 81.3 (2021)
Social media statistics: 2.90 million
Estimate for 2022Male internet users: 85.8 (2021)
Male internet users as a % of total male populationFacebook users: 1.75 million
Estimate for 2022Female internet users: 76.9 (2021)
Female Internet users as a % of total female populationInstagram users: 1.45 million
Estimate for 2022Households with internet access at home (%): 86.1 (2021)
Linkedin users: 730.0 thousand
Estimate for 2022Fixed broadband subscriptions: 25.8 (2021)
Total fixed broadband subscriptions (per 100 people) refers to fixed subscriptions to high-speed access to the public internet (a TCP/IP connection), at downstream speeds equal to, or greater than, 256 kbit/s.Twitter users: 188.9 thousand
Estimate for 2022Mobile infrastructure and access:
Mobile ownership: 94.78
Mobile phone ownership as a % of total population (Estimate for 2021)Mobile Infrastructure: 87.77
Mobile Infrastructure index: High-performance mobile internet coverage availability. It includes parameters such as network coverage, performance, quality of supporting infrastructure and amount of spectrum assigned to mobile network operators (Estimate for 2021)Male mobile ownership: No data
Male mobile phone ownership as a % of total male populationMobile Affordability: 71.74
Mobile Affordability index : The availability of mobile services and devices at price points that reflect the level of income across a national population. It includes parameters such as mobile tariffs, headset prices, taxation and inequality (Estimate for 2021)Female mobile ownership: No data
Female mobile phone ownership as a % of total female populationCybersecurity Index: 92.53
Cybersecurity Index (Estimate for 2021): ITU cybersecurity valueNetwork performance: 84.07
Network performance index: Quality of mobile services measured by download speed, upload speed and latencies (Estimate for 2021)Mobile download speeds: 100.0
Mobile download speeds: Average download speed for mobile users (originally in Mbit/s) (Estimate for 2021)Mobile uploads speeds: 64.56
Mobile uploads speeds: average uploads speed for mobile users (originally in Mbit/s) (Estimate for 2021)Mobile Latencies: 87.65
Mobile Latencies: Average latency for mobile users (originally in milliseconds) (Estimate for 2021)Speedtest-Broadband: 42.74
Speedtest-Broadband: The value is expressed in Mbps (Estimate for 2021)Network coverage: 97.25
Network coverage (% of total population) (Estimate for 2021)2G Coverage: 100.0
Coverage % of population (Estimate for 2021)3G Coverage: 99.0
Coverage % of population (Estimate for 2021)4G Coverage: 99.5
Coverage % of population (Estimate for 2021)5G Coverage: 78.47
Coverage % of population (Estimate for 2021)Operating system and browser market share estimate for 2022:
Operating system market share (%):
Desktop, Tablet & Console Operating System Market Share: Estimate for 2022Browser market share (%):
Browser Market Share Worldwide: Estimate for 2022Android: 45.5
Chrome: 70.27
Win10: 29.16
Safari: 11.3
iOS: 10.73
Edge: 3.0
OS X: 3.44
Firefox: 5.63
Win11: 3.27
Samsung Internet: 4.15
The UN E-Government Survey 2022:
The UN E-Government Survey is the assessment of the digital government landscape across all UN member states. The E-Government Survey is informed by over two decades of longitudinal research, with a ranking of countries based on the UN E-Government Development Index (EGDI), a combination of primary data (collected and owned by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs) and secondary data from other UN agencies.E-Government Rank: 44
Nations E-Government Development Index (EGDI), a combination of primary data (collected and owned by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs) and secondary data from other UN agencies. Estimate gives the country's rank.E-Government Index: 0.81
The EGDI is a composite measure of three important dimensions of e-government, namely: provision of online services, telecommunication connectivity and human capacity. Estimate gives the country's score ranging from approximately 0 to 1.E-Participation Index: 0.74
The E-Participation Index (EPI) is derived as a supplementary index to the United Nations E-Government Survey. Estimate gives the country's score ranging from approximately 0 to 1.Online Service Index: 0.81
The online services index was developed by the UN to evaluate the scope and quality of government online services. Estimate gives the country's score ranging from approximately 0 to 1.Human Capital Index: 0.85
The Human Capital Index (HCI) quantiï¬_x0081_es the contribution of health and education to the productivity of the next generation of workers. Estimate gives the country's score ranging from approximately 0 to 1.Telecommunication Infrastructure Index: 0.77
Telecommunication Infrastructure Index- Telecommunication Infrastructure Index (TII) Composite Indicator that measures the countries' Telecommunication infrastructure readiness to adopt the opportunities offered by Information and Communication Technology as to enhance their competitiveness. Estimate gives the country's score ranging from approximately 0 to 1.ICT information:
ICT skills
Information economy indicators
Individuals with basic ICT skills (%): 81.1 (2021)
Share of ICT goods, % of total exports (value) 2.04 (2021)
Individuals with standard ICT skills (%): 45.5 (2021)
Share of ICT goods, % of total import (value): 4.68 (2021)
Individuals with advanced ICT skills (%): 3.6 (2021)
Most visited website: index.hr
The survey conducted in 2022 excluded global dominant sites (e.g., YouTube, Facebook, and Google) and search engines (e.g., Yahoo, Baidu, DuckDuckGo, Naver, and Yandex) to level the playing field and discount middle-man visits. Likewise, it did not include adult, betting, illegal streaming/downloading services, and malicious websites.
