Development Co‑operation Profiles: Croatia
Table of contents
Croatia’s development co-operation is closely aligned with its foreign policy and aims to foster political and economic collaboration, especially with its neighbouring countries. Since it became a development co‑operation provider in 2011, Croatia has increased its technical assistance and other non-financial aid beyond Europe, such as towards the Middle East and the Horn of Africa, and has taken several policy decisions to strengthen its national development co-operation system. Croatia’s total official development assistance (ODA) (USD 225.6 million, preliminary data) decreased in 2025, representing 0.24% of gross national income (GNI).
This profile presents verified data on Croatia’s development assistance allocations. See the Development Co-operation Profiles.
In February 2024, Croatia enacted the Law on International Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid, aligning its national law with the European Union (EU), the OECD and the United Nations (UN) frameworks. This updated law expands the entities eligible to implement projects and introduces new financial instruments, such as loans, credits, insurances and other financial instruments. Croatia has also drafted a National Programme Plan for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid until 2030, currently awaiting formal adoption by the government. Croatia implements bilateral development co‑operation through projects and programmes; contributions to Croatian public institutions that deliver development co-operation; partnerships with civil society organisations (CSOs); and budget support, among others. It aims to expand its activities by using other financial instruments that involve the private sector.
At the multilateral level, Croatia primarily delivers development co-operation through contributions to international organisations, financial institutions and multilateral funds. Croatia is an OECD Accession country since 2022 and has expressed interest in becoming a member/associate of the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC).
Croatia provided USD 225.6 million (preliminary data) of ODA in 2025 (USD 208.3 million in constant terms), representing 0.24% of GNI.1 This was a decrease of 6.9% in real terms in volume and a decrease in the share of GNI from 2024. Croatia’s ODA volume has risen sharply between 2021 and 2024, growing by an average of 32% per year. Croatia has yet to achieve its domestic EU commitment (0.33% by 2030) and international commitment to achieve a 0.7% ODA/GNI ratio. Total ODA on a grant-equivalent basis has the same value as net ODA under the cash-flow methodology used in the past, as Croatia provides only grants.
Croatia provides a balanced mix of bilateral and multilateral ODA. Its multilateral ODA is largely comprised of contributions to the European Union. Its bilateral ODA is mainly channelled through the public sector and non-governmental organisations (NGOs). In-donor refugee costs amounted to 27.8% of Croatia’s gross bilateral ODA in 2024.
Notes: This table only includes information about ODA data-related DAC recommendations. ODA: official development assistance; GNI: gross national income; DAC: Development Assistance Committee.
Croatia provided a broadly balanced mix of bilateral and multilateral ODA in 2024. Gross bilateral ODA was 52.6% of total ODA disbursements. Of this, 4.9% was channelled through multilateral organisations (earmarked contributions).
In 2024, Croatia provided USD 111.9 million of gross ODA to the multilateral system, an increase of 24.9% in real terms from 2023, mostly to the European Union. Of this, USD 106.2 million was core multilateral ODA (47.4% of total ODA), while USD 5.7 million was non-core contributions earmarked for a specific country, region, theme or purpose. Project-type funding earmarked for a specific theme and/or country accounted for 48.9% of Croatia’s non-core contributions, and 51.1% was programmatic funding (to pooled funds and specific-purpose programmes and funds).
The UN system received 5% of Croatia’s contributions to multilateral organisations, of which USD 2.8 million (50%) represented earmarked contributions. Out of a total volume of USD 5.6 million to the UN system, the top three UN recipients of Croatia’s support (core and earmarked contributions) were the United Nations Children’s Fund (USD 1.3 million), World Food Programme (USD 0.8 million) and the UN Secretariat (USD 0.8 million).
See the section on Geographic, sectoral and thematic focus of ODA for the breakdown of bilateral allocations, including ODA earmarked through the multilateral development system.
In 2024, Croatia’s bilateral spending increased compared to the previous year. It provided USD 117.6 million of gross bilateral ODA (which includes earmarked contributions to multilateral organisations). This represented an increase of 14.6% in real terms from 2023.
In 2024, country programmable aid amounted to USD 51.3 million, or 43.6% of Croatia’s gross bilateral ODA.
Croatia’s in-donor refugee costs amounted to USD 32.6 million (27.8% of gross bilateral ODA) in 2024, while humanitarian aid was USD 16.3 million, or 13.9% of gross bilateral ODA.
In 2024, Croatia channelled its bilateral ODA mainly through the public sector.
In 2024, CSOs received USD 20.4 million of gross bilateral ODA, none of which was directed to developing country-based CSOs. Overall, 1.4% of gross bilateral ODA was allocated to CSOs as core contributions and 16% was channelled through CSOs to implement projects initiated by the provider (earmarked funding). From 2023 to 2024, the combined core and earmarked contributions for CSOs increased as a share of bilateral ODA, from 16.4% to 17.4%. Learn more by reading the DAC Recommendation on Enabling Civil Society in Development Co-operation and Humanitarian Aid.
In 2024, Croatia’s bilateral ODA primarily focused on ODA-eligible countries in Europe. USD 64.5 million was allocated to ODA-eligible countries in Europe (of which 6.6% for Ukraine) and USD 2.7 million to the Middle East, accounting respectively for 54.8% and 2.3% of gross bilateral ODA. Europe was also the main regional recipient of Croatia’s earmarked contributions to multilateral organisations. This reflects Croatia's policy priorities.
In 2024, 55.8% of gross bilateral ODA went to Croatia’s top 10 recipients. Its top 10 recipients are predominantly in the Balkans and in Europe, reflecting Croatia’s focus on its immediate neighbourhood and alignment with its policy priorities. Bosnia and Herzegovina is by far the largest recipient. The share of gross bilateral ODA not allocated by country was 44%, of which 62.8% consisted of expenditures for processing and hosting refugees in provider countries.
In 2024, Croatia allocated 0.01% of its GNI to the least developed countries (LDCs). Croatia allocated the highest share of gross bilateral ODA (50.2%) to upper middle-income countries in 2024, noting that 44% was unallocated by income group. LDCs received 0.4% of Croatia’s gross bilateral ODA (USD 0.4 million). Additionally, Croatia allocated 9.6% of gross bilateral ODA to land-locked developing countries in 2024, equal to USD 11.3 million.
The distribution of Croatia’s ODA in net terms in relation to “ODA per person in extreme poverty”2 was USD 0.2 in lower middle-income countries (LMICs) and USD 1.2 in upper middle-income countries.
In 2025, Croatia provided USD 3.5 million of net bilateral ODA to Ukraine to respond to the impacts of the Russian Federation’s full-scale invasion, a 24% decrease from 2024 in real terms. USD 1.8 million of the amount was humanitarian assistance in 2025, a 45.1% increase in real terms from 2024.
Support to contexts with high and extreme fragility was USD 1.3 million in 2024, representing 1.1% of Croatia’s gross bilateral ODA. Of this ODA, 80.6% was provided in the form of humanitarian assistance, a decrease from 84.1% in 2023. Learn more about the States of Fragility platform.
In 2024, the largest focus of Croatia’s bilateral ODA was social infrastructure and services. Investments in this area accounted for 39% of bilateral ODA commitments (USD 45.9 million), with a strong focus on support to government and civil society (USD 19.1 million), health and population (USD 13.2 million) and other social infrastructure and services (USD 10.3 million). ODA for other macro sectors totalled USD 36.4 million, with a focus on refugees in donor countries (USD 32.6 million). Humanitarian assistance amounted to USD 16.3 million (13.9% of bilateral ODA). Earmarked contributions to multilateral organisations also focused on other macro sectors and economic sectors in 2024.
In 2023-2024, Croatia committed 1.6% of its total bilateral allocable ODA (USD 1.2 million) in support of the environment and the Rio Conventions, up from 0% in 2021-2022.
Learn more about the DAC Declaration on Aligning Development Co-operation with the Goals of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.
In 2024, Croatia:
Allocated 1.1% of its bilateral ODA (USD 1.3 million) to core poverty-reducing sectors as defined by SDG 1.a.1. This indicator captures grants to basic social services (such as basic health and education, water supply and sanitation, multisector aid for basic social services) and development food aid. In addition, 2.4% of bilateral ODA (USD 2.8 million) went to social protection support. Learn more by exploring the Reducing poverty and inequalities through ODA data explainer.
Committed USD 6.4 million (7.6% of its bilateral allocable ODA) to promote aid for trade and improve developing countries’ trade performance and integration into the world economy in 2024. Learn more by exploring the Aid for Trade dashboard.
Total official support for sustainable development (TOSSD) is an international statistical standard that monitors and increases the transparency of all official and officially supported resources for financing the SDGs received by developing countries (Pillar 1) and for addressing global challenges (Pillar 2). In 2024, activities reported by Croatia as TOSSD totalled USD 238.1 million, marking a 20% increase compared with the previous year. Croatia’s TOSSD activities mostly targeted SDG 17 (partnerships for the Goals), SDG 1 (no poverty) and SDG 10 (reduced inequalities). Activity-level data on TOSSD by recipient are available at: https://tossd.online.
The Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of Croatia, and specifically its Directorate-General for Economic Affairs and Development Cooperation, is in charge of development co-operation. It co-ordinates policy-making processes and oversees the implementation of Croatia’s development activities.
The “Commission for International Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid Abroad” is an important mechanism for consulting stakeholders. The commission was established pursuant to the “Act on International Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid” (Official Gazette 14/24) and provides strategic direction on Croatia’s activities related to development co-operation and is comprised of all government stakeholders involved in development co-operation.
CSOs active in development co-operation, humanitarian assistance and global citizenship education co‑ordinate through the Croatian Platform for International Citizen Solidarity (CROSOL). The Office for Cooperation with NGOs of the Government of Croatia also supports CSO engagement in development co‑operation.
The Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development placed a renewed emphasis on strengthening the effectiveness of all forms of development co-operation by upholding and elevating the Effectiveness Principles. Adherence to these principles is measured through the partner country-led monitoring exercise of the Global Partnership for Effective Development Co-operation. Croatia participated in the 2023-2026 monitoring round through its reporting to one partner country, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Its results can be found here.
Access the full list of providers of development co-operation at: Development Co-operation Profiles.
Government of Croatia (2024), Act on International Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid, Zakon, https://mvep.gov.hr/UserDocsImages/2024/datoteke/The%20Act%20on%20International%20Development%20Cooperation%20and%20Humanitarian%20Aid_5.4.2024._150513.pdf.
Croatian Platform for International Citizen Solidarity (CROSOL): https://crosol.hr/en.
National Development Strategy of the Republic of Croatia until 2030: https://hrvatska2030.hr (in Croatian).
Croatia has been an OECD Accession candidate since 2022. On 25 January 2022, the OECD Council decided to open accession discussions with Croatia and on 10 June 2022 adopted the Accession Roadmap for Croatia.
Croatia has been reporting to the OECD since 2012 and reporting activity-level data since 2018 on 2017 activities.
Croatia has been a Participant in the OECD Development Assistance Committee since September 2024. In March 2026, Croatia submitted a request to the OECD to become a DAC Associate.
Croatia participated in the DAC High Level Meetings in 2023 and 2025. Croatia also participated as an Observer in the Peer Review of Austria in 2015 and in the Peer Review of Switzerland in 2024-2025.
Croatia is an Adherent to the OECD Recommendation of the Council on Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas and the OECD Recommendation of the Council for Development Co-operation Actors on Managing the Risk of Corruption. Learn more about OECD legal instruments and DAC Recommendations.
The methodological notes provide further details on the definitions and statistical methodologies applied, including the grant-equivalent methodology, core and earmarked contributions to multilateral organisations, country programmable aid, channels of delivery, bilateral ODA unspecified/unallocated, bilateral allocable ODA, the gender equality policy marker, and the environment markers.
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← 1. DAC members adopted the grant-equivalent methodology starting from their reporting of 2018 data as a more accurate way to count the donor effort in development loans. See the methodological notes for further details.
← 2. Aid per person in extreme poverty is calculated by dividing net ODA (bilateral and imputed multilateral) by the population in extreme poverty in each country. It estimates how much ODA each person in extreme poverty would receive if total ODA was divided evenly among the extreme poor. This metric does not measure the amount of ODA actually received by each person in extreme poverty, nor does it measure how much ODA goes to poverty reduction. It instead highlights patterns in total ODA allocations relative to the number of people living in extreme poverty in each country. Group averages are calculated based on a weighted average of aid per person in extreme poverty and the number of people in extreme poverty for each country in the group. See the methodological notes for further details.