Zagreb

Croatia celebrated joining the euro and Schengen in January 2023 as a triumph of European integration. For Zagreb, it accelerated an exodus. The country has lost nearly 20% of its population since independence, and the capital's metro area of 1.08 million now functions as a staging ground for emigration rather than a destination. When the government launched its 'Choose Croatia' program in 2022, offering €27,000 to returnees willing to start businesses, it expected 4,500 applicants. Fewer than 500 came forward. The Wikipedia entry emphasizes Zagreb's Habsburg architecture and startup scene; what it undersells is that this city of 770,000 is the capital of Europe's fastest-shrinking nation. UN projections show Croatia declining from 4.15 million to 3.2 million by 2050—a 23% drop. Tourism accounts for 20% of GDP, but seasonal work doesn't retain young professionals. GDP per capita has risen from 55% to 70% of the EU average since 2012, yet this convergence was bought partly by exporting the unemployed. The biological parallel is source-sink dynamics: Zagreb produces educated workers who flow to Vienna, Munich, and Dublin, while the city itself cannot retain enough to replace its aging population. The euro removed the last friction to departure—no currency conversion, no border controls, no psychological barrier between 'here' and 'there.' Integration into a larger ecosystem sometimes means becoming a feeder population rather than a destination. Croatia's demographic trajectory suggests the country may eventually stabilize at a much smaller population, with Zagreb as a heritage tourism destination rather than a growing capital.