Better Internet for Kids

Here, we take an in-depth look at the latest monitoring information for Croatia.

According to the Digital Decade 2025: Country reports, Croatia’s digital landscape is characterised by a concerted effort to accelerate public sector digitalization and enhance business digital intensity, as outlined in the Digital Croatia Strategy 2032. While 63.5% of SMEs have basic digital intensity, the uptake of advanced technologies such as AI and cloud services remains modest and below the EU average. Despite this, the ICT sector contributes 5.3% to national gross value added and accounts for over 35% of national R&D personnel. Infrastructure progress is notable, with 5G coverage reaching 94% and fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) at 75% in 2024, although rural expansion faces mid-band spectrum bottlenecks. Digital skills are also strong; 58.9% of the population has basic digital skills – exceeding the EU average. However, stark divides persist, particularly regarding age and education, with only 17.9% of older adults possessing basic skills compared to over 86% of youth. According to the State of the Digital Decade Eurobarometer 2025, public perception is overwhelmingly positive, with 81% of citizens agreeing that digitalisation simplifies daily life and 84% viewing it as essential for access to public services. BIK-related topics receive high-level attention at the national level.

Read the full Policy monitor country profile for detailed information on key national policy frameworks in Croatia.

Read the full 2026 edition of the Policy monitor report.

BIK policies

This concerns how national-level policies relevant to the BIK agenda are organised, managed, and supported by evidence and stakeholder input.

Policy frameworks

Policy frameworks describe the overarching goals that shape policies for a better internet for kids. 

In Croatia:

• This topic is being comprehensively addressed with children’s protection, empowerment and participation in the digital environment incorporated into national/regional laws, regulations and policies.
• There are separate, dedicated policies which address the topic of children and the digital environment (protection, empowerment, and participation).

• The BIK+ strategy has no influence on national policies.

• National/regional policies and policy documents explicitly recognise children's rights in the digital environment.

Policy design

Policy design asks whether evidence and research support BIK-related policies and whether systems are in place for monitoring and evaluating those policies.

In Croatia:

• Surveys of children’s digital activities are undertaken, but only irregularly (for instance, the EU Kids Online survey data from 2020 is the only available source on a national level).
• Surveys of children’s experiences of risks, harms and digital well-being are undertaken on an ad-hoc and irregular basis.
• There is no system in place at the government level to gather information on children and the digital environment.
• There is no funding available for research on children and the digital environment.
• There is no monitoring or evaluation of policies on children and the digital environment.

Policy governance

Policy governance examines how policies are coordinated at the governmental level, whether other implementation bodies are involved in their delivery and coordination.

In Croatia:

• Policy development sits across different ministries with leadership officially distributed according to the area of specialisation.
• There is no active or planned coordination. Policies, guidelines, and programmes related to children and the digital environment are developed and implemented independently, resulting in a disjointed or incoherent policy landscape.
• There is no action plan available or under development.

Stakeholder involvement

Stakeholder involvement enquires how different stakeholders can participate in policy development.

In Croatia:

• Stakeholder participation in policy discussion and development is infrequent or informal. Opportunities to contribute exist occasionally but lack regularity, transparency, or meaningful impact on decision-making.
• There are no formal mechanisms or practices for consulting the public on BIK topics.
• Children are listened to directly in the policy development process but are not formally involved in decision-making.

Read the full Policy monitor country profile for detailed information on key national policy frameworks in Croatia.

Read the full 2026 edition of the Policy monitor report.

BIK+ actions

Pillar 1 – safe digital experiences

Safe digital experiences refer to actions taken to protect children from harmful and illegal online content, conduct, contact, and risks as young consumers and to improve their well-being online through a safe, age-appropriate digital environment created in a way that respects children’s best interests.

Pillar 2 – Digital empowerment

Digital empowerment involves actions that ensure all children, including those in vulnerable situations, acquire the necessary skills and competences to make sound choices and to express themselves safely and responsibly in the online environment.

Pillar 3 – Active participation, respecting children’s rights

This includes actions that promote young people's active participation and respect for their rights through such activities as fostering innovative and creative safe digital experiences for young people and ensuring they have a say in policies governing the digital environment.

Read the full Policy monitor country profile for detailed information on key national policy frameworks in Croatia.

Read the full 2026 edition of the Policy monitor report.

BIK+ index 2026: Croatia

The BIK+ index has been developed to provide an aggregated at-a-glance overview of the levels of implementation across the two dimensions, BIK policies and BIK+ actions, in Croatia compared to the EU27+2 average. Values are shown in per cent.

Figure 1: BIK+ index 2026: Croatia - EU27+2 average comparison

Please note, the data used in this page and the corresponding country profile was collected in January 2026.