NUTS-3 HR033 · Croatia
Zadarska županija
Zadarska županija generates €3.0bn of GDP across 165.8k residents. Its Opportunity Index of 34.8/100 sits in the lower tier of EU regions, led by economic growth and livability. Its economy has grown +9.0%/yr over five years and accelerating, with the employment rate up 9.1pp. On quality of life it ranks strongest for clean environment (65th EU percentile) and weakest for digital connectivity (10.5th).
Long-run trajectory · EU percentile of real GDP per head, 1995–2024
Persistent laggard12 → 14 EU percentile since 1995 (+2 ranks)
Yearly EU-wide percentile of real GDP per head (ARDECO regional accounts, constant 2020 prices, derived over population). 50 = the EU median that year; percentiles are scale-free, so decades are directly comparable. See the backtest for what long-run prosperity ranks do — and don't — anticipate.
Mandate pillar profile · EU percentiles (screener dimensions)
Cost advantage90
Growth momentum88
Energy cost71
Air quality64
Resilience45
Talent & skills37
Connectivity36
Demographic outlook34
Quality of life32
Economic base23
Labour market20
Governance12
Industrial base10
Freight intensity9
Digital readiness0
Each bar is this region's EU percentile on a screener pillar (higher = better for siting; cost & energy are inverted so cheap scores high). These are the exact weights you tune in the Site Screener.
Opportunity Index · composite triage (experimental)
34.8
/ 100 · blends growth, livability, market access & scale · 4/4 pillars
Growth87.6
Livability31.5
Market access5
Economic scale15
Equal-weighted mean of four EU-percentile pillars (deliberately orthogonal: growth=trend, livability=quality, market=distance-weighted demand proxy, scale=absolute GDP). Experimental — a screening triage, not investment advice.
Resilience Index · downside / risk lens (experimental)
45
/ 100 · higher = more resilient to downturns · 4/4 pillars
GDP stability15
Labour stability13
Diversification77
Demographic stability75
Inverse of GDP-growth & unemployment volatility (since 2008, incl. 2009/2020 shocks), economic diversification (inverse HHI) and population stability — each EU-percentile-ranked. Higher withstands downturns better. Experimental.
Connectivity Index · transit · air · market access (experimental)
35.7
/ 100 · higher = better-connected · 3/3 facets
Transit density21
Airport access81
Market access5
Public-transport stop density, proximity to a major airport, and gravity access to surrounding economic mass — each EU-percentile-ranked. Higher = better-connected. Experimental.
Talent & Human Capital Index · skills base (experimental)
36.5
/ 100 · higher = deeper skills base than more EU regions · 4/4 facets
Young tertiary58
Lifelong learning12
Knowledge workers56
Scientists & engineers20
Young tertiary attainment (25–34), adult lifelong learning, knowledge-worker share and scientists & engineers — each EU-percentile-ranked. Higher = deeper talent pool. Experimental.
Clean-Air Score · air-quality livability (experimental)
64
/ 100 · higher = cleaner air than more EU regions · 2/3 pollutants
PM2.57.2 µg/m³
PM1014.3 µg/m³
NO2—
PM2.5, PM10 & NO2 annual means from official monitoring networks, inverted (lower pollution = higher) and EU-percentile-ranked. Higher = cleaner air; ground-level ozone is shown separately. Experimental.
Quality of Life · composite (experimental)
31.5
/ 100 · EU-relative · 7/7 pillars
Economy16.5
Jobs27.5
Education22.5
Health18.5
Safety59.7
Connectivity10.5
Environment65
Equal-weighted percentile across 6 pillars vs all EU NUTS-3; lower-is-better indicators (crime, unemployment, mortality) inverted. Experimental — regional screening only.
Growth momentum · trend analytics
87.6
/ 100 momentum · EU-relative · 5/5 signals
GDP growth · 5-yr
+9.0%
CAGR, nominal
GDP growth · 10-yr
+7.7%
CAGR, nominal
Acceleration
+1.3 pp
5-yr vs 10-yr
vs country avg
+0.2 pp
inflation-adj.
Population · 5-yr
+0.5%
CAGR
Employment rate
+9.1 pp
5-yr change
Unemployment
-1.9 pp
5-yr change
Compound annual growth to the latest available year vs all EU NUTS-3; GDP is nominal EUR (“vs country avg” removes most national inflation). Screening signal, not a forecast.
Economic structure · gross value added by sector
Dominant: Finance · real estate · prof. · 28.1%Diversified · HHI 2094
Agriculture 4.2%Industry 9.4%Construction 12.9%Trade · transport · ICT 23.3%Finance · real estate · prof. 28.1%Public · health · education 22%
Share of total GVA (latest year). HHI = sum of squared sector shares ×10,000; higher means a more concentrated, single-sector-dependent economy (more cyclicality risk).
Trends · 2009–2024
GDP (current prices)
€2,995M2024
9.9% 1y 9.0% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 15
Real GDP (2020 prices)
€2,379M2025
3.4% 1y 5.9% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 14
Population
165,7662025
1.6% 1y 0.5% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 33
Unemployment rate
5.6%2025
13.8% 1y 5.2% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 65
Employment
71,0702024
8.4% 1y 7.3% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 29
Productivity / employee
€44,9402025
6.7% 1y 8.7% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 15
Gross value added
€2,483M2024
8.9% 1y 9.4% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 12
All indicators · 87 more metrics (Eurostat, all-EU)
Economy
Gross value added, total (current prices)
€2,483M
2024 · EU pctl 12
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€104M
2024 · EU pctl 39
GVA — industry (B–E)
€233M
2024 · EU pctl 5
GVA — manufacturing (C)
€160M
2024 · EU pctl 6
GVA — construction (F)
€320M
2024 · EU pctl 36
GVA — wholesale/retail, transport, ICT (G–J)
€579M
2024 · EU pctl 19
Net disposable household income per capita (NUTS-2 source)
€11,000
2023 · EU pctl 10 · NUTS-2 src
GDP per capita in PPS (purchasing-power adjusted)
25,300 PPS
2024 · EU pctl 23
GDP per capita (current prices, EUR)
€18,100
2024 · EU pctl 16
Gross fixed capital formation — investment (total economy)
€7,641M
2024 · EU pctl 23 · NUTS-2 src
Investment in manufacturing capex (GFCF, NACE C)
€658M
2024 · EU pctl 15 · NUTS-2 src
Compensation of employees (total wage bill)
€13,216M
2024 · EU pctl 21 · NUTS-2 src
GVA — real estate activities (L)
€372M
2024 · EU pctl 25
GVA — information & communication (J)
€36M
2024 · EU pctl 24
GVA — finance, real estate & professional (K–N)
€699M
2024 · EU pctl 23
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€547M
2024 · EU pctl 11
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€2,379M
2025 · EU pctl 14
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€44,940
2025 · EU pctl 15
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€917M
2025 · EU pctl 23
Labour market
Employment, total persons
71,070
2024 · EU pctl 29
Self-employed persons
12,270
2024 · EU pctl 42
Employment in manufacturing (C)
5,950
2024 · EU pctl 15
Activity rate, 15–64 (NUTS-2 source)
72.4%
2025 · EU pctl 19 · NUTS-2 src
Youth unemployment rate (15–24)
18.0%
2025 · EU pctl 63 · NUTS-2 src
Unemployment rate 15-74, NUTS-3 native (ARDECO)
5.6%
2025 · EU pctl 65
Labour force aged 15+ (ARDECO)
75,500
2025 · EU pctl 29
Business demography
Active enterprises (business economy, all sizes)
10,754
2023 · EU pctl 42
Enterprise births
1,630
2023 · EU pctl 57
Enterprise deaths
567
2023 · EU pctl 31
3-year enterprise survival rate
5.4%
2023 · EU pctl 74
Innovation & R&D
R&D expenditure as % of GDP
0.7%
2023 · EU pctl 12 · NUTS-2 src
Employment in high-tech sectors (% of total)
2.8%
2025 · EU pctl 15 · NUTS-2 src
R&D personnel (% of active population, FTE)
0.6%
2023 · EU pctl 18 · NUTS-2 src
Education
Tertiary education attainment, age 25–64
31.1%
2025 · EU pctl 33 · NUTS-2 src
Tertiary attainment, age 25–34 (young talent pool)
43.1%
2025 · EU pctl 58 · NUTS-2 src
Adult participation in learning, age 25–64 (last 4 weeks)
6.5%
2025 · EU pctl 12 · NUTS-2 src
Knowledge workers — tertiary-educated & in science/tech (% of labour force)
23.9%
2025 · EU pctl 56 · NUTS-2 src
Scientists & engineers (% of labour force)
6.5%
2025 · EU pctl 20 · NUTS-2 src
Digital
Households with internet access
87.1%
2025 · EU pctl 0 · NUTS-2 src
Tourism
Nights spent at tourist accommodation (total)
10,609,983
2025 · EU pctl 95
Mobility
Passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants
549 /1k pop
2024 · EU pctl 31 · NUTS-2 src
Distinct public-transport stop locations within the region (GTFS feeds, deduplicated across overlapping feeds by coordinate). A measure of transit-network extent.
33
CURRENT · EU pctl 15
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
1,825 kt
2025 · EU pctl 11
Motorway density (km per 1,000 km²)
27 km/1000km²
2024 · EU pctl 59 · NUTS-2 src
Public-transport stops per 100,000 inhabitants — transit service density relative to population (GTFS feeds, coordinate-deduplicated).
20
CURRENT · EU pctl 21
Distance from the region centroid to the nearest major (large) airport, in km - air-connectivity accessibility. Lower is better.
26
CURRENT · EU pctl 19
Number of major (large) airports within 100 km of the region centroid - air-hub catchment richness.
2
CURRENT · EU pctl 50
Demography
Population aged 15–64 (working age)
101,869
2025 · EU pctl 33
Population aged 65+
40,499
2025 · EU pctl 34
Population aged under 15
23,398
2025 · EU pctl 35
Median age of population
45.5 yrs
2025 · EU pctl 43
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
39.8%
2025 · EU pctl 67
Crude rate of total population change
15.5 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 96
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
19.2 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 97
Crude birth rate
9.2 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 87
Crude death rate
12.9 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 70
Live births
1,512
2024 · EU pctl 42
Deaths
2,121
2024 · EU pctl 35
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
62.7%
2025 · EU pctl 72
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
1.62
2024 · EU pctl 90
Population density (persons per km²)
46 /km²
2024 · EU pctl 15
Projected population, 2030–2040 (EUROPOP2019 baseline)
131,512
2100 · EU pctl 28
Health
Hospital beds per 100k inhabitants
531 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 59 · NUTS-2 src
Mortality, all causes (age-standardised rate)
1,391 /100k
2021 · EU pctl 82 · NUTS-2 src
Cancer mortality (age-standardised rate)
295 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 96 · NUTS-2 src
Safety & crime
Intentional homicides per 100k inhabitants
0.0 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 0
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
10.4 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 26
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
203 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 49
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
483 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 31
Road traffic deaths per million inhabitants
75 /M pop
2024 · EU pctl 90 · NUTS-2 src
Governance & institutions
Government effectiveness, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
0.72
2022 · EU pctl 19
Regulatory quality, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
0.30
2022 · EU pctl 4
Rule of law, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
0.43
2022 · EU pctl 10
Control of corruption, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
0.11
2022 · EU pctl 8
Political stability & absence of violence, WGI score (country)
0.73
2022 · EU pctl 86
Energy
Industrial electricity price, 2-20 GWh band, excl. taxes (national)
€0.126/kWh
2025-S2 · EU pctl 29
Industrial gas price, 10-100k GJ band, excl. taxes (national)
€0.048/kWh
2025-S2 · EU pctl 19
Climate
Elevation at region centroid (Copernicus DEM)
257 m
CURRENT · EU pctl 56
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
34 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 86
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
41 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 32
Heavy-precipitation days ≥20mm (avg per year)
24 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 98
Environment
PM10 (coarse particulate matter) annual mean concentration — mean across EEA air-quality monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data). Lower is better.
14
2024 · EU pctl 45
Industrial facilities per 100k inhabitants (E-PRTR)
12.0 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 21
Population in the 100-year river floodplain (% of residents, EFAS × census grid)
0.2%
2021 · EU pctl 7
Similar regions · nearest peers on standardised NUTS-3 indicators
Other Croatia regions
HR021
Bjelovarsko-bilogorska županija
HR024
Brodsko-posavska županija
HR037
Dubrovačko-neretvanska županija
HR050
Grad Zagreb
HR036
Istarska županija
HR027
Karlovačka županija
HR063
Koprivničko-križevačka županija
HR064
Krapinsko-zagorska županija
HR032
Ličko-senjska županija
HR061
Međimurska županija
HR025
Osječko-baranjska županija
HR023
Požeško-slavonska županija