Quality of life comparison

compared to

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

Health

live 6.0 years less

In Switzerland, the average life expectancy is 83 years (81 years for men, 86 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 25.1% more likely to be obese

In Switzerland, 19.5% of adults are obese as of 2016. In Croatia, that number is 24.4% of people as of 2016.

Economy

make 50.2% less money

Switzerland has a GDP per capita of $82,900 as of 2023, while in Croatia, the GDP per capita is $41,300 as of 2023.

be 49.6% more likely to be unemployed

In Switzerland, 4.0% of adults are unemployed as of 2023. In Croatia, that number is 6.1% as of 2023.

be 22.4% more likely to live below the poverty line

In Switzerland, 14.7% live below the poverty line as of 2020. In Croatia, however, that number is 18.0% as of 2021.

pay a 18.0% higher top tax rate

Switzerland has a top tax rate of 40.0% as of 2016. In Croatia, the top tax rate is 47.2% as of 2016.

Life

be 28.6% less likely to die during childbirth

In Switzerland, approximately 7.0 women per 100,000 births die during labor as of 2020. In Croatia, 5.0 women do as of 2020.

be 2.4 times more likely to die during infancy

In Switzerland, approximately 3.6 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 15.8% fewer children

In Switzerland, there are approximately 10.1 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 15.6% less likely to have internet access

In Switzerland, approximately 96.0% of the population has internet access as of 2021. In Croatia, about 81.0% do as of 2021.

Expenditures

spend 33.9% less on healthcare

Switzerland spends 11.8% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2020. In Croatia, that number is 7.8% of GDP as of 2020.

The statistics above were calculated using the following data sources: Croatia Tax Administration, The World Factbook, Swiss Federal 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 Switzerland? See an in-depth size comparison.

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