According to the latest data from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, the Croatian labor market in the third quarter of 2025 showed exceptional vitality, achieving the highest employment growth among all member states.

The analysis published on 5 December 2025 shows that the number of employed people in Croatia increased by as much as 1.6 percent compared with the previous quarter. With this result, Croatia convincingly took the top spot on the European Union list, leaving behind other Mediterranean countries with also strong growth.

Croatia at the top, Portugal and Spain follow

Seasonally adjusted data, which are considered the standard for comparing economic indicators at the EU level, confirm that the growth of 1.6 percent in Croatia was multiple times above the average.

Behind Croatia, Portugal followed with a respectable growth of 0.9 percent and Spain with 0.7 percent. These data clearly indicate the continuation of the positive recovery trend in the labor market in the southern wing of the European Union.

On the other hand, at the level of the entire eurozone, employment increased by a moderate 0.2 percent, while at the level of the entire EU a slight increase of 0.1 percent was recorded.

Declines in Romania, Austria and Finland

For comparison, in the same period some member states recorded a significant decline in the number of employed people. The largest decline was recorded by Romania with minus 1.2 percent, while declines were also recorded in Austria and Finland (both at -0.3 percent).

These results put Croatia in focus as a positive example within the Union, signaling that despite global uncertainties, the domestic economy has a strong capacity for creating new jobs. Although preliminary, these Eurostat data will be key for analyzing overall economic trends and the resilience of the labor market in the upcoming period.