Quality of life comparison

compared to

If you lived in Croatia instead of Belgium, you would:

Health

live 4.6 years less

In Belgium, the average life expectancy is 82 years (79 years for men, 85 years for women) as of 2022. In Croatia, that number is 77 years (74 years for men, 81 years for women) as of 2022.

be 10.4% more likely to be obese

In Belgium, 22.1% of adults are obese as of 2016. In Croatia, that number is 24.4% of people as of 2016.

Economy

pay a 12.1% lower top tax rate

Belgium has a top tax rate of 53.7% as of 2016. In Croatia, the top tax rate is 47.2% as of 2016.

make 35.1% less money

Belgium has a GDP per capita of $63,600 as of 2023, while in Croatia, the GDP per capita is $41,300 as of 2023.

be 46.3% more likely to live below the poverty line

In Belgium, 12.3% live below the poverty line as of 2022. In Croatia, however, that number is 18.0% as of 2021.

Life

be 2.7 times more likely to die during infancy

In Belgium, approximately 3.2 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2022. In Croatia, on the other hand, 8.7 children do as of 2022.

have 21.3% fewer children

In Belgium, there are approximately 10.8 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Croatia, there are 8.5 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.

Basic Needs

be 11.0% less likely to have internet access

In Belgium, approximately 91.0% of the population has internet access as of 2021. In Croatia, about 81.0% do as of 2021.

Expenditures

spend 17.9% less on education

Belgium spends 6.7% of its total GDP on education as of 2020. Croatia spends 5.5% of total GDP on education as of 2020.

spend 29.7% less on healthcare

Belgium spends 11.1% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2020. In Croatia, that number is 7.8% of GDP as of 2020.

Geography

see 87.7 times more coastline

Belgium has a total of 66 km of coastline. In Croatia, that number is 5,835 km.

The statistics above were calculated using the following data sources: Service Public Fédéral Finances, The World Factbook, Croatia Tax Administration.

Croatia: At a glance

Croatia is a sovereign country in Europe, with a total land area of approximately 55,974 sq km. The lands that today comprise Croatia were part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until the close of World War I. In 1918, the Croats, Serbs, and Slovenes formed a kingdom known after 1929 as Yugoslavia. Following World War II, Yugoslavia became a federal independent communist state under the strong hand of Marshal TITO. Although Croatia declared its independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, it took four years of sporadic, but often bitter, fighting before occupying Serb armies were mostly cleared from Croatian lands, along with a majority of Croatia's ethnic Serb population. Under UN supervision, the last Serb-held enclave in eastern Slavonia was returned to Croatia in 1998. The country joined NATO in April 2009 and the EU in July 2013.
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How big is Croatia compared to Belgium? See an in-depth size comparison.

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