Data on homelessness and housing exclusion 2026: Croatia

Summary of key data and information

	Summary of key data and information
Official statistical definition of homelessness (Table 1)	The State Bureau of Statistics defines the homeless as a person who, due to a lack of accommodation, has no other options than to live on the street and without a shelter that is considered a residential area (so-called primary homelessness) or as a person without a usual place of residence who often moves from one type of placement to another, including apartments, shelters, institutions for the homeless or other residential premises (so-called secondary homelessness).
Latest national estimates of homelessness (Table 2, Table 3)	617 individuals, representing 0.01% of the total population (2025)
	Point-in-time count, based on internal data from the Ministry of Labour, Pension system, Family and Social Policy
	ETHOS Light groups included	Included: ETHOS Light 2: Emergency accommodation (e.g. shelters) ETHOS Light 3: Accommodation for the homeless (e.g. hostels and women’s refuges) Not included: ETHOS Light 1: Living on the streets, in public spaces ETHOS Light 4: People in institutions ETHOS Light 5: People in non-conventional dwellings (e.g. caravans, cars or tents) ETHOS Light 6: Living temporarily with others in conventional housing (e.g. sofa-surfing)
	Notes: Each ETHOS Light group includes one or more sub-categories of living situations. ETHOS Light groups are considered as “included” in the data collection approach if at least one of the sub-categories is counted.
Legal framework to collect data on homelessness (Table 4)	The Social Welfare Act requires Service Providers to submit an annual statistical report to the Ministry responsible for social welfare affairs by 31 March each year for the previous year.
Homelessness Strategy (Table 5)	There is no national homelessness strategy in Croatia. Other (e.g. anti-poverty, housing) national strategy addressing homelessness: National Development Strategy 2030
Approaches to collect data on homelessness (Table 6)	Internal Data of the Ministry of Labour, Pension System, Family and Social Policy: Regional offices of service providers provide information to the Ministry on service use (Table 6.1)

Table 1. Official statistical definition of homelessness

Statistical definition

Homelessness

The State Bureau of Statistics defines the homeless as a person who, due to a lack of accommodation, has no other options than to live on the street and without a shelter that is considered a residential area (so-called primary homelessness) or as a person without a usual place of residence who often moves from one type placement in another, including apartments, shelters, institutions for the homeless or other residential premises (so-called secondary homelessness). For the purpose of exercising the right to benefits and services in the social welfare system, the Social Welfare Act defines a homeless person as a person who does not have a place of residence or the means to cover the costs of housing, and is accommodated or uses the service of organised housing in a shelter or overnight accommodation or resides in public or other places that are not intended for housing.

Table 2. Data on people experiencing homelessness: Headline estimate, by living situation

Presented according to ETHOS Light Typology

Year	Headline estimate of homelessness (Individuals)	% of total population	ETHOS Light 1 People living rough	ETHOS Light 2 People in emergency accommodation	ETHOS Light 3 People in accommodation for the homeless	ETHOS Light 4 People living in institutions	ETHOS Light 5 People living in unconventional dwellings	ETHOS Light 6 People staying with family/friends
2021	561	0.01%	Not included	Included in headline estimate but not specified	Included in headline estimate but not specified	Not included	Not included	Not included
2024	632	0.01%	Not included	Included in headline estimate but not specified	Included in headline estimate but not specified	Not included	Not included	Not included
2025	617	0.01%	Not included	Included in headline estimate but not specified	Included in headline estimate but not specified	Not included	Not included	Not included
Metadata: Type of count: Point-in-time Data are comparable across years: No Included in headline estimate: Children: No Temporary accommodation for: Asylum seekers: No Refugees: No Victims/survivors of domestic violence: No

Note: Data refer to the total number of individuals exercising rights from the social welfare system in 2024, specifically accommodation, organised housing and shelter for homeless people. The percentage for 2024 is an OECD calculation based on data from Croatian Bureau of Statistics (2025)

Source: OECD Questionnaire on Affordable and Social Housing (QuASH); Ministry of Labour, Pension System, Family and Social Policy, Internal data.

Table 3. Data on people experiencing homelessness: Headline estimate, by sub-group and living situation

Data not available.

Table 4. Legal framework to collect data on homelessness

	Legal framework
Law that governs data collection on homelessness	Social Welfare Act (2022)
Legal obligations	The Social Welfare Act requires Service Providers to submit an annual statistical report to the Ministry responsible for social welfare affairs by 31 March each year for the previous year.

Table 5. Homelessness strategy

	Homelessness strategies in place
National Homelessness Strategy	There is no national homelessness strategy in Croatia. Other (e.g. anti-poverty, housing) national strategy addressing homelessness: National Development Strategy 2030
Regional and/or local homelessness strategies exist	No

Table 6. Approaches to collect data on homelessness

6.1. Internal data of the Ministry of Labour, Pension System, Family and Social Policy
Description The regional offices of the Croatian Institute for Social Work on the homeless provide data to the Ministry of Labour, Pension System, Family and Social Policy on the use of homelessness services.
Type of count generated Point-in-time	Methods Service-based method
Lead authority(ies) Ministry of Labour, Pension System, Family and Social Policy	Source(s) of information Shelters and Overnight Shelters (service providers).
Scope National level	Depth of data Enumeration
Frequency Annual
ETHOS Light groups included: ETHOS Light 2: Emergency accommodation (e.g. shelters) ETHOS Light 3: Accommodation for the homeless (e.g. hostels and women’s refuges) Note: Each ETHOS Light group includes one or more sub-categories of living situations. ETHOS Light groups are considered as “included” in the data collection approach if at least one of the sub-categories is counted.

Please refer to the OECD Affordable Housing Database, indicator HC3.1.Population experiencing homelessness, https://www.oecd.org/content/oecd/en/data/datasets/oecd-affordable-housing-database.html.

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