eurel     Sociological and legal data on religions in Europe and beyond
You are here : Home » Croatia » Social and religious data » Religious belonging and religious demography » Religious belonging – Census data 2001-2021

Religious belonging – Census data 2001-2021

2001 2011 2021 2021*
Population – total 4,437,460 4,284,889 3,871,833 3,871,833
Catholics 87.97% 86.28% 78.97% 83.03%
Orthodox 4.42 4.44 3.32 3.36
Protestants 0.27 0.34 0.26 0.33
Other Christians 0.24 0.30 4.83 0.66
Muslims 1.28 1.47 1.32
Jews 0.01 0.01 0.01
Eastern religions 0.02 0.06 0.09
Other religions, movements and worldviews 0.01 0.06 0.96 0.37
Agnostics and sceptics 0.03 0.76 1.68
Not religious and atheists 2.22 3.81 4.71
Not declared 2.95 2.17 1.72
Unknown 0.58 0.29 2.14

Source: Croatian Bureau of Statistics

According to the Census data, Croatia can be considered a highly religious country in Europe. Most of the population belongs to the Catholic Church, followed by members of the Serbian Orthodox Church and the Islamic Community. Other religions are marginally present. In addition, there has not been much change in the 2001-2021 period, although a slight rise of agnostics and sceptics, as well as not religious and atheists, is noticeable. However, the comparison between these data and those from 1991 (not shown in the table) indicated the major recomposition in the structure of religious belonging. Specifically, the share of Catholics rose from 76.5% in 1991 to 87.97% in 2001, and the share of Orthodox fell from 11.1% in 1991 to 4.42% in 2001. That reflected the desintegration of former Yugoslavia and the Croatian War for Independence after Croatia proclaimed independence in 1991. As a result, many Orthodox left the country while Catholics from other parts of former Yugoslavia (particularly Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia) migrated to Croatia.

*The Census 2021 was done according to somewhat different rules compared to previous Censuses, which wrongly indicated that the share of “other religions, movements and worldviews” rose from 0.06% in 2011 to 0.96% in 2021. However, many respondents who chose that category identified themselves simultaneously as members of traditional religions. Hence, the last column presents the re-calculation based on those who undeniably identified as Catholics, Orthodox, Protestants, or other Christians. The author did the re-calculation.

D 11 April 2023    ASiniša Zrinščak

CNRS Unistra Dres Gsrl

Follow us:
© 2002-2024 eurel - Contact