April 2026
20Apr

Croatians protest seeking higher wages, pensions

Thousands of Croatians protested on April 18 in the capital Zagreb to demand higher salaries and pensions amid rising inflation in the EU nation in recent months. The protest dubbed "Croatia Together for Higher Wages and Pensions" was held as the country in March registered inflation of 4.89 percent, the highest in the euro-zone. Carrying banners saying "Stop the tax of poverty" and "If everything got more expensive, why didn't our salaries?", protesters marched through downtown Zagreb before gathering at the main Jelacic square. The rally was...

April 20, 2026
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October 2019

21Oct

Croatia: retirement without peace

Most retired people in Croatia receive the standard pension, which for July was 2,228 kuna (€300). 15,546 retired people receive a pension of less than 1,000 kuna. Adding those who receive pensions in between the two amounts we arrive at the number of 586,613 persons with an income lower than 2,228 kuna, or 55.31 percent of retired people. Peace in retirement clearly still needs to be fought for. There is a whole series of problems with the Croatian pensions...

October 21, 2019
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September 2019

20Sep

Croatian government backs down over pension reform

Croatia’s government has backed down over plans to increase the pensionable age from 65 to 67. The announcement came right after several trade unions asked people to take the streets to force the government to hold a referendum and to consider the 700,000 signature collected under the initiative 67 is too much. Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said the government will present a bill on amendments to the Pension Insurance Act which will “respect the will of citizens.” However, it...

September 20, 2019
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19Sep

Croatia’s trade unions want referendum on pension reform

Trade unions in Croatia are urging the government to hold a referendum on planned pension reforms, which would increase the retirement age from 65 to 67. The new law will also include a 3.6 per cent pension reduction for every year of early retirement and the trade union campaign has called for this to be reduced to 2.4 per cent. “There must be a referendum because the will of the citizens must be respected,” said the leader of the...

September 19, 2019
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May 2019

08May

Croatian Unions Urge Minister to Quit over Pensions Adverts

Mladen Novosel, the chairman of the Union of Autonomous Trade Unions of Croatia, called on Tuesday for Labour Minister Marko Pavic to step down for “systematically telling untruths related to pension reform” via a series of televised advertisements. Unions also accuse the government of spending much more on the advertisements to promote its controversial reform of the pension system than the minister has told the public. “For sure, today we can talk not about two, nor four, but about...

May 8, 2019
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April 2019

30Apr

Moody’s changes outlook on Croatia to positive

Credit rating company Moody’s has changed Croatia’s outlook from stable to positive, affirming the country’s long-term local and foreign currency issuer and senior unsecured debt credit rating at Ba2. Although the surplus was lower (0.2 per cent of GDP), in large part due to the activation of a state guarantee regarding the Uljanik Shipyard, Croatia confirmed a positive trend throughout 2018. In its statement, Moody’s highlighted how the improved fiscal performance is mainly attributable to a significant reduction in...

April 30, 2019
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January 2019

07Jan

Croatia. Pension Reform Enters into Force

The pension reform which went into force on January 1 envisages raising the retirement age to 67 as of 2033, penalising early retirement by 0.3% per month, i.e. by 18% for five years, and enabling all pensioners to work four hours a week while keeping their pensions.Second pillar beneficiaries can choose in which system to exercise their pension - only in the first pillar with a 27% supplement for the period up to 2002, plus 20.25% for payments after that...

January 7, 2019
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October 2018

22Oct

Croatians protest over government plan to raise retirement age

Several thousand people protested in Croatia's capital on Saturday over government plans to raise the retirement age to 67 and cut pensions for those who retire early. This week the government asked parliament to pass legislation lifting the retirement age of 65 from 2033 onwards, defending the reform as a step in efforts to make the pension system sustainable. The bill also includes a proposal to cut the pensions of people who stop working before reaching retirement age by about four...

October 22, 2018
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July 2018

09Jul

Policy-Making at the European Periphery: The Case of Croatia

By Zdravko Petak,‎ Kristijan Kotarski This book examines Croatia's economic and political transformation over the last 30 years. It brings together the best political scientists, macroeconomists and public finance experts from Croatia to provide an in-depth analysis of the Croatian policy-making context and the impact of Europeanization upon its domestic institutional framework. The second part of the book scrutinizes the political economy context and Croatia's long-term macroeconomic under-performance, especially in comparison to other transition economies. The final part explores sectoral...

July 9, 2018
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February 2018

13Feb

Croatia pension funds seek higher contributions, deeper market

Croatia’s government should press on with plans to gradually double the amount of money citizens pay into pension funds to help turn around the loss-making pension system, the head of the main industry body said on Tuesday. Damir Grbavac, chair of the UMFO pension funds association, told Reuters his members also needed more opportunities to invest in the local economy, saying there was a shortage of Croatian companies seeking listings or funding on the capital market. Both the IMF and the...

February 13, 2018
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