Croatia now has more than two million cars as vehicle numbers continue to rise

Croatia’s relationship with the car is changing, and the latest statistics show just how significant that change has been over the past decade. 

Data from the Croatian Bureau of Statistics, published ahead of European Mobility Week, show that the number of registered passenger cars in Croatia reached 2,058,313 at the end of 2025.

That was 3.6% more than in 2024, when 1,987,156 passenger cars were registered. Compared with 2015, the increase is even more striking: Croatia had 1,499,802 passenger cars that year, meaning the number has risen by 37.2% in a decade.

The increase is also visible when measured against the population. In 2015, Croatia had 363 registered passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants. By 2025, that figure had risen to 531 cars per 1,000 inhabitants.

The figures underline how central the private car remains to everyday mobility in Croatia. According to Eurostat data for 2024, passenger cars accounted for 83% of passenger kilometres travelled in Croatia, broadly in line with the EU average of 82.5%.

Yet the picture is not simply one of increasing car dependence.

Public transport has also recorded growth. In 2025, buses and trams carried a combined 281.5 million passengers in Croatia, around 12% more than the 252 million recorded in 2024.

Bus passenger numbers increased by 8.8%, while tram passenger numbers rose by 14.8%.

Rail travel also increased. Croatian railways carried 26.4 million passengers in 2025, up from 24.6 million the previous year.

The figures suggest that Croatia’s transport story is becoming more complex. More people have access to a car, while public and rail transport are also carrying more passengers.

Distance between home and work or education remains an important factor in transport choices. In 2025, 81.3% of people aged 16 to 64 living in Croatia could reach their place of work or education within one hour by walking, public transport or bicycle.

Household spending provides another perspective. In 2024, transport accounted for an average 12.7% of household consumption expenditure across the EU, compared with 8.2% in Croatia.

In Croatia, 1.6% of household consumption went towards purchasing passenger cars, 4.9% towards maintaining personal transport vehicles and 1.7% towards passenger transport services.

There are also signs of growing interest in cycling. Croatia imported 132,314 bicycles worth €38.5 million in 2025, compared with 109,880 bicycles worth €16.6 million in 2015.

Zagreb tram

The biggest change has been in electric bicycles. Imports rose from just 573 e-bikes in 2015 to 9,837 in 2025, with a total value of €11.1 million last year.

Taken together, the figures present a snapshot of a country where the private car remains dominant, but where other forms of mobility are also expanding.

For Croatia, the challenge of mobility is therefore not simply about how many cars are on the road. It is also about how easily people can choose between cars, public transport, rail, cycling and walking – and how that choice fits into everyday life.

European Mobility Week, held from 16 to 22 September, provides an opportunity to look at those changes through the data, as Croatia’s transport system continues to evolve.