Croatia offers families up to €15,000 towards a seven-seat car

ZAGREB, 10 September 2026 – Croatia has opened applications for a new pilot scheme offering families with four or more children up to €15,000 towards the purchase of a vehicle with at least seven seats.

The programme, presented by the Ministry of Demography and Immigration, has a total budget of €2.2 million and is intended to support larger families with the cost of transport and everyday mobility.

Applications open today on 10 September 2026.

Under the scheme, eligible families can receive 50% of the vehicle’s purchase price including VAT, up to a maximum of €15,000. The support can be used towards either a new or used vehicle registered to transport at least seven people, including the driver.

The programme is aimed at families with four or more biological or adopted children. Applicants must have a category B driving licence and must be able to cover the difference between the subsidy and the full purchase price.

One of the conditions is that the household must not already own a vehicle with seven or more seats that is less than 10 years old.

The programme also gives additional consideration to particular family circumstances. These include single-parent households, families with children with developmental difficulties and families living in areas with weaker transport connections.

An income threshold also applies. According to information presented by the Croatian Foundation for Children, the threshold is 250% of the budgetary base, equivalent to €1,103 per household member.

Applications are processed by the Croatian Foundation for Children, with requests considered according to the order in which they are received.

The ministry said the measure is designed primarily as a demographic policy rather than a conventional social welfare programme. The aim is to reduce the financial burden of raising larger families while improving children’s access to schools, kindergartens, healthcare, sport and other activities.

The government will use the pilot programme to assess demand, implementation and its effects before deciding whether the measure should become a permanent form of support.

For Croatia, where demographic decline and population ageing remain major policy concerns, the programme represents an attempt to link financial assistance directly with one of the practical costs of raising larger families.

All instructions, necessary forms and detailed information on how to submit documentation will be available on the official websites of the Ministry of Demography and Immigration https://mdu.gov.hr/ and the “Croatia for Children” Foundation https://www.zhzd.hr/