The size of the population has been shrinking since 1991 when the country had a population of 4,784,265, and in 2021, according to data of the census conducted that year, it had a population of 3,888,529.
This means that in the 30 years of its independence, Croatia has lost 18.7% of its population.
In 2001 the country had a population of 4,437,460 and in 2011 4,284,889.
In the decades before 1991, the number of residents grew, and in 1981 a total of 4,601,469 people lived in Croatia while in 1971 Croatia had a population of 4,426,221.
Croatia has not had such a low number of residents as the latest census shows, since the population census of 1948, when it had a population of 3,779,858.
