Croatia is on track to join the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 2025, marking a major milestone in its global economic and political integration. The OECD praised Croatia’s progress, particularly in education reform, gender equality, and youth development. With record investments and strong international recognition, Croatia is positioning itself as a modern, inclusive, and globally engaged nation.
Croatia Set to Join OECD in 2025
In the middle of next year, Croatia is expected to join the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), marking the final step towards the country’s international affirmation. The members of this organisation, headquartered in Paris and comprising 38 countries, are economically developed and politically stable nations.
For several years now, the organisation (OECD is short for Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), whose declared aim is to encourage economic development and global trade, has been sending its representatives to Croatia to assess the country’s progress in various areas.
So far, the process is proceeding well and, by all accounts, Croatia – unlike some other candidates who began the accession process at the same time in 2022 – should achieve its goal.
OECD Praises Croatia’s Education Policies
Recently, the OECD’s report on the implementation of educational policies was presented in Zagreb. Encouragement and perhaps some serious criticism were expected, given the ongoing debates in Croatia surrounding this field, but the outcome was quite the opposite.
Andreas Schleicher, Director for Education and Skills and Special Advisor on Education Policy to the OECD Secretary-General, surprised everyone at the report’s presentation at the Ministry of Education and Sport by stating that, although he has been at the OECD for a long time, he has never seen a country so active and so effective in achieving OECD standards in education as Croatia.
Contribution Beyond Standards
He first emphasised that membership in the organisation is not just about meeting some minimum standards and then stated: “This is about Croatia actively contributing to making the world a better place and collaborating with countries around the globe to push their boundaries in education.”
To ensure it wasn’t all just general praise, Schleicher specifically highlighted that Croatia ranks second in the world – after South Korea – when it comes to providing young people with a solid foundation, meaning the completion of upper secondary education. It is well known that South Korea has high educational standards, and to be second behind that country in any area is a significant recognition.
Strong Foundation and Gender Equality
“Young people have a strong foundation for their future. When you look at gender equality, you can see that just one generation ago, only 15 percent of women in Croatia attained higher education. Today, Croatia has achieved full gender equality,” said Schleicher.
He also added that in recent years, many countries have experienced a decline in the quality of learning outcomes, but, as he emphasised, not Croatia. “Croatia performs well in terms of the psychological strength of young people and ranks above the OECD average. The emotional resilience of young people is high,” he said, adding that young people in Croatia have a positive view of their teachers – again, above the OECD average.
Room for Improvement and Investment in Reform
Schleicher did offer one criticism, relating to data indicating that Croatian children lack a sense of happiness and active involvement in their learning environments and often feel like consumers of content. Minister of Education Radovan Fuchs then presented what is being done to modernise and improve the Croatian education system.
“We are currently undertaking the largest investment in education ever, amounting to €2.7 billion. The goal of these reforms is to make education more available, accessible, and inclusive,” said Fuchs.
Final Step in International Integration
The OECD is the final international organisation that Croatia wishes to join; it is already a member of all others that are of interest to it.