In 2024, the total population of Croatia amounted to 3.86 million people. Between 1992 and 2024, the figure dropped by 870,000 people, though the decline followed an uneven course rather than a steady trajectory. The total population is forecast to decline by 10,000 people from 2024 to 2030, fluctuating as it trends downward.This indicator describes the total population in the country at hand. This total population of the country consists of all persons falling within the scope of the census.

In 1800, the population of the region making up present-day Croatia was just over 1.2 million. Croatia's population grew relatively consistently throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, despite the region suffering around 200,000 fatalities in each of the World Wars. The lack of clearly defined boundaries, mass displacement and general disorganization have made it very difficult for historians to estimate the total number of fatalities suffered by Croatia and by ethnic Croats in this time; additionally, the various ethnic groups within Yugoslavia at the time committed a number of atrocities against one another, which has exacerbated this.

In spite of these events, the population of Croatia would continue to grow steadily until the early 1990s, when it was one of six parts of the Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia. In the wake of communism's demise in Southern Europe in the late 20th century, Croatia claimed its sovereignty in 1991, which set in motion the Croatian War of Independence with Serbia. War was waged for four years, and saw the deaths of more than 20,000 people, while several hundred thousand were displaced. In the quarter century since the war's end, Croatia has emerged as a high-income, developing country, with a booming tourism and hospitality industry. However the population has continued to drop as a result of declining birth rates, and large-scale economic migration (particularly influenced by the financial crisis of 2008 and Croatia's accession to the European Union in 2013).

Croatia: Population density, people per square km: The latest value from 2021 is 69 people per square km, a decline from 72 people per square km in 2020. In comparison, the world average is 456 people per square km, based on data from 196 countries. Historically, the average for Croatia from 1992 to 2021 is 77 people per square km. The minimum value, 69 people per square km, was reached in 2021 while the maximum of 83 people per square km was recorded in 1994.

In 2023, the annual population growth in Croatia stood at 0.1 percent. Between 1961 and 2023, the figure dropped by 0.55 percentage points, though the decline followed an uneven course rather than a steady trajectory.

Croatia: Female population, percent of total: The latest value from 2024 is 51.76 percent, a decline from 51.78 percent in 2023. In comparison, the world average is 49.99 percent, based on data from 196 countries. Historically, the average for Croatia from 1960 to 2024 is 52.06 percent. The minimum value, 51.76 percent, was reached in 2024 while the maximum of 53.1 percent was recorded in 1960.

In the Cook Islands in 2024, the population decreased by about 2.24 percent compared to the previous year, making it the country with the highest population decline rate in 2024. Of the 20 countries with the highest rate of population decline, the majority are island nations, where emigration rates are high (especially to Australia, New Zealand, and the United States), or they are located in Eastern Europe, which suffers from a combination of high emigration rates and low birth rates.