Fewer people stand in Croatian local elections and the candidates are getting older
Hook
In 2013 there were 56,558 local candidates in Croatia. In 2025 there were 31,082.
Claim
From DIP’s own candidacy statistics (2 May 2025; every figure below was re-checked against the PDF on 2026-11-04, and the 2013, 2017 and 2021 rows also against DIP’s 2021 candidacy statistics):
| Year | Candidates and deputies | Women | Average age |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 56,558 | 28.24% | 43.31 |
| 2017 | 47,601 | 41.67% | 44.53 |
| 2021 | 38,852 | 42.72% | 45.20 |
| 2025 | 31,082 | 42.61% | 46.79 |
- Candidates fell 45% from 2013 to 2025 (56,558 to 31,082, minus 25,476); average age rose 3.5 years. Hina, via Novi list on 3 May 2025, reports the same totals and the same 25,476 and 7,770 (against 2021) drops.
- In 2025, 3,761 candidates (12.10%) were under 30: 1,791 men (10.04% of men) and 1,970 women (14.87% of women). In 2021 it was 5,787, or 14.9% (own division of the figure in DIP’s 2021 PDF).
- County level: of 84 candidacies for prefect (zupan), none were under 30. Of 5,406 county-level names in the age table, 474 (8.77%) were under 30: 468 of 5,199 assembly candidates (9.00%) and 6 of 110 deputy prefects.
- 2025 had 127 cities with 441 mayoral candidacies (3.47 on average) and 428 municipalities with 935 candidacies for mayor (nacelnik, 2.18 on average), 50 municipalities with 82 deputy candidacies. Total candidacies and lists 3,647.
Is “45% fewer” comparable? Only partly.
- The same DIP table is used for all four years, and the unit count looks stable (20 counties plus Zagreb, 127 cities, 428 municipalities in 2021 and 2025; for 2017 one source gives the same; 2013 not verified).
- But the rules changed in between. A law passed on 15 December 2020 (Narodne novine 144/2020) set council sizes by population and changed who gets a deputy, and it applied from the May 2021 elections. The Government’s proposal said 618 deputy posts would go (from 671 elected deputies) and councils would shrink by about 10% (from 8,254 seats); those numbers are from a news report of the proposal, not the final text. Fewer seats means fewer candidates needed.
- DIP’s 2021 table shows where the drop sits. Council lists: 3,010 lists with 43,228 candidates in 2013, 2,494 with 35,862 in 2017, 2,281 with 29,305 in 2021. County assemblies: 8,561 (2013), 7,514 (2017), 7,151 (2021). Candidates on mayor and prefect tickets (including deputies): 5,403 (2013), 3,785 (2017), 2,012 (2021) for mayors alone, partly because deputies were no longer on most tickets. The category counts do not add exactly to the total (people can be counted twice).
- A measure not hit by the deputy change: mayoral candidacies (a candidacy is one ticket). Cities and municipalities together: 2,463 in 2013, 1,716 in 2017, 1,624 in 2021, 1,376 in 2025 (441 plus 935), minus 44%. Per unit in 2021 and 2025: cities 4.30 to 3.47, municipalities 2.53 to 2.18. A fall before the law (2013 to 2017, minus 30%) suggests the drop is not only a rule change.
- Population context: Croatia’s median age was 42.4 in 2013, 43.9 in 2017, 45.3 in 2021, 45.4 in 2024 and 45.5 in 2025 (Eurostat, demo_pjanind; EU 44.9 in 2025). The candidates’ average age rose 3.5 years in the same span, the population median 3.1. DZS puts the average age of the whole population at 44.3 in mid-2021, against 45.2 for candidates. So the candidates are getting older at about the pace of the country (mean and median are different measures, so this is only a rough comparison).
What cannot be shown: why the number fell. Rule changes, depopulation, less competition and disengagement all fit; the DIP table does not separate them. Separate DIP documents for 2013 and 2017 were not found; the 2013 and 2017 figures come from the 2021 and 2025 comparison tables.
Story
In a municipality with two candidates for nacelnik (the average is 2.18), a voter’s choice is already narrow before election day. That is not a story about a named person; it is the structure in the DIP table.
Sources
- DIP, Candidacy statistics 2025 (PDF): https://www.izbori.hr/site/UserDocsImages/2025/Lokalni%20izbori%202025/Kandidatura/STATISTIKA%20Kandidatura%20Lokalni%202025.pdf
- DIP, Age structure statistics (PDF): https://www.izbori.hr/site/UserDocsImages/2025/Lokalni%20izbori%202025/Kandidatura/Statistika%20dobne%20strukture.pdf
- DIP, Local elections 2021, candidacy statistics (PDF, has 2013, 2017, 2021): https://www.izbori.hr/site/UserDocsImages/2021/Lokalni%20izbori%202021/KANDIDATURE/STATISTIKA%202021.v.1.1.pdf
- Hina via Novi list, 3 May 2025 (totals and drops): https://www.novilist.hr/?p=1446313
- Zakon o izmjenama i dopunama Zakona o lokalnoj i podrucnoj (regionalnoj) samoupravi, NN 144/2020 (summary of articles on deputies and council size): https://www.zakon.hr/c/nn/46702/nn-144-2020-%2823.12.2020.%29%2C-zakon-o-izmjenama-i-dopunama-zakona-o-lokalnoj-i-podrucnoj-%28regionalnoj%29-samoupravi
- Informator, 1 Dec 2020, the Government’s proposal (618 deputies, about 10% fewer council seats): https://informator.hr/vijesti/izmjene-triju-zakona-s-ciljem-smanjenja-broja-lokalnih-duznosnika
- Eurostat, median age (demo_pjanind, MEDAGEPOP), as of 2026-11-04: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/demo_pjanind
- DZS, population estimate 2021 (average age 44.3): https://novi-web.dzs.hr/media/gr3dlry2/stan-2022-3-1-procjena-stanovništva-republike-hrvatske-u-2021.pdf
- DIP local elections page: https://www.izbori.hr/site/izbori-referendumi/lokalni-izbori/lokalni-izbori-2752/2752
Check before posting
- The final text of NN 144/2020 on council sizes (the 618 and 10% figures come from news on the proposal), and the number of units in 2013.
- Seats available in 2025 against 2013, to give candidates per seat.
- Resolved 2026-11-04: every table figure matches the DIP PDFs; “45% fewer” is arithmetically right but not like-for-like (rules changed in 2021, mayoral candidacies fell 44% on a steadier basis); 2013, 2017 and 2021 now backed by DIP’s 2021 document; population median age added.
Counterargument
Fewer candidates can reflect tighter lists, fewer seats after the 2020 law, or fewer contested races. Older candidates may reflect an older population: the candidates’ average age rose about as fast as Croatia’s median age, so it is not clear that young people are shut out more than before.
Post angles
Facebook (Croatian) DIP objavljuje podatke koje malo tko čita. Na lokalnim izborima 2013. kandidiralo se 56.558 ljudi, a 2025. samo 31.082. Dio pada dolazi iz zakona koji je smanjio broj vijećnika i zamjenika, ali kandidata za načelnike i gradonačelnike ima 44 posto manje nego 2013. Prosječna dob kandidata porasla je s 43 na skoro 47 godina, otprilike koliko i dob cijele zemlje. Ispod 30 godina je samo 12 posto kandidata, a od 84 kandidata za župane nijedan nije mlađi od 30. Podaci ne kažu zašto je tako. Kažu samo da se to vidi.
LinkedIn (English) From the State Electoral Commission’s own candidacy statistics: Croatia had 56,558 local candidates in 2013 and 31,082 in 2025. Part of that is a 2020 law that cut council seats and deputy posts, so the cleaner number is mayoral candidacies: 2,463 in 2013, 1,376 in 2025, down 44%. Candidates’ average age rose from 43.3 to 46.8, about as fast as the country’s median age. Only 12.1% were under 30, and none of the 84 candidates for county prefect were. The numbers say nothing about cause, but they are a measurable sign of who is willing to stand.
Links
Croatia votes at about 62 percent in national elections and about 21 percent in European ones People stop taking part when their input visibly changes nothing