If you lived in Croatia instead of Palau, you would:

Health

live 9.6 years longer

In Palau, the average life expectancy is 69 years (67 years for men, 72 years for women) as of 2024. In Croatia, that number is 79 years (76 years for men, 82 years for women) as of 2024.

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be 24.0% less likely to be obese

In Palau, 40.5% of adults are obese as of 2024. In Croatia, that number is 30.8% of people as of 2024.

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see 73.9% more spent on your healthcare

Palau spends $1,857 per person on healthcare as of 2023 (international dollars, adjusted for prices). Croatia spends $3,229 as of 2023.

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have 2.2 times more doctors per person

Palau has 18.1 doctors per 10,000 people as of 2023. Croatia has 39.1 as of 2022.

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have 23.1% more access to essential health services

Palau scores 65 out of 100 on the universal health coverage index as of 2021. Croatia scores 80 as of 2021.

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Economy

make 38.8% more money

Palau has a GDP per capita of $19,532 as of 2025, while in Croatia, the GDP per capita is $27,104 as of 2025.

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Life

be 96.6% less likely to die during childbirth

In Palau, approximately 89.0 women die from pregnancy or childbirth per 100,000 live births as of 2023. In Croatia, 3.0 women do as of 2023.

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be 78.0% less likely to die during infancy

In Palau, approximately 18.6 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2024. In Croatia, on the other hand, 4.1 children do as of 2024.

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have 22.4% fewer children

In Palau, there are approximately 10.7 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Croatia, there are 8.3 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.

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Expenditures

spend 34.1% less on healthcare

Palau spends 10.8% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2023. In Croatia, that number is 7.2% of GDP as of 2023.

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spend 18.9% more on education

Palau spends 3.4% of its total GDP on education as of 2023. Croatia spends 4.1% of total GDP on education as of 2021.

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Geography

see 3.8 times more coastline

Palau has a total of 1,519 km of coastline. In Croatia, that number is 5,835 km.

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Safety

be 63.5% less likely to die in a road accident

In Palau, road accidents kill 22.2 people per 100,000 as of 2021. In Croatia, they kill 8.1 per 100,000 as of 2021.

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Infrastructure

find 4.0 times more home broadband

Palau has 7.3 fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people as of 2023. Croatia has 29.6 as of 2024.

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Environment

emit 94.2% less CO2

Palau emits 82.8 tonnes of CO2 per person each year as of 2024. Croatia emits 4.8 tonnes as of 2024.

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Sources: World Bank (2021–2025), United Nations SDG Indicators (2021), World Health Organization (2024), The World Factbook. How we calculate this

Croatia: At a glance

Croatia is a sovereign country in Europe, with a total land area of approximately 55,974 sq km. The lands that today comprise Croatia were part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until the close of World War I. In 1918, the Croats, Serbs, and Slovenes formed a kingdom known after 1929 as Yugoslavia. Following World War II, Yugoslavia became a federal independent communist state under the strong hand of Marshal TITO. Although Croatia declared its independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, it took four years of sporadic, but often bitter, fighting before occupying Serb armies were mostly cleared from Croatian lands, along with a majority of Croatia's ethnic Serb population. Under UN supervision, the last Serb-held enclave in eastern Slavonia was returned to Croatia in 1998. The country joined NATO in April 2009 and the EU in July 2013.
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How big is Croatia compared to Palau? See an in-depth size comparison.

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