County

Lika-Senj County: municipalities in numbers

Lika-Senj County has 12 municipalities and 43,591 residents across 2,024 km², or 22 people per km². Population: −7.3% between 2015 and 2025.

43,591 residents
12 municipalities
2,024 km²
22 people/km²

Map and records: Lika-Senj County

Population

Population change over 10 years

Population density

All municipalities in Lika-Senj County

Click a column heading to sort the table.

Municipality	Population	Population change over 10 years	Population density	Area	Average age of residents	Share of residents aged 65 and over
Gospić	11,903	−2.3%	12.3 people/km²	967.4 km²	43.9	21.4%
Otočac	8,026	−12.0%	373.3 people/km²	21.5 km²	45.8	23.6%
Senj	5,631	−15.8%	1,760 people/km²	3.2 km²	49.3	29.6%
Novalja	4,401	+18.3%	46.0 people/km²	95.7 km²	45.5	26.3%
Plitvička Jezera	4,236	+8.4%	9.0 people/km²	469.0 km²	44.5	22.3%
Brinje	2,303	−22.4%	47.2 people/km²	48.8 km²	48.7	30.0%
Perušić	1,929	−15.8%	154.3 people/km²	12.5 km²	50.1	31.3%
Udbina	1,244	−20.2%	66.2 people/km²	18.8 km²	52.2	36.2%
Donji Lapac	1,238	−27.9%	109.6 people/km²	11.3 km²	53.9	37.8%
Lovinac	992	+5.4%	2.9 people/km²	345.8 km²	48.4	30.6%
Vrhovine	865	−13.5%	29.0 people/km²	29.8 km²	53.3	38.7%
Karlobag	823	−10.4%	1,176 people/km²	0.7 km²	54.4	41.9%

Lika-Senj County compared with the national figures

Population-weighted averages for rates; totals for counts.

Indicator	Lika-Senj County	Croatia
Average age of residents	46.7 years	44.3 years
Share of residents aged 65 and over	26.2%	22.4%
Share of children aged 0 to 14	12.6%	14.3%
Unemployment rate	4.8%	5.3%
Employed share of residents aged 15 and over	43.8%	49.1%
Number of dwellings	51,907	2,390,500
Dwellings per 1,000 residents	1,254	622
Share of holiday and seasonal dwellings	13.5%	7.3%
Share of unoccupied dwellings for permanent residence	38.7%	23.7%
Average floor area of an occupied dwelling	89.0 m²	92.6 m²
Average household size in occupied dwellings	2.43	2.70
Kindergartens and preschool institutions	16	1,794
Children in kindergartens	1,502	158,685
Children in kindergartens per 1,000 residents	34	41
Primary schools	42	1,925
Primary school pupils	3,010	291,355
Primary school pupils per 1,000 residents	69	75
Pupils per teacher in primary schools	5.6	8.4
Students by place of residence	1,249	139,372
Students per 1,000 residents (by place of residence)	29	36
Persons in paid employment in legal entities	11,997	1,262,193
Persons in paid employment in legal entities per 1,000 residents	278	326
Dwellings completed in the year	265	16,654
Dwellings completed 2020-2024 per 1,000 residents	23.0	19.1
Tourist nights per resident in the year	74.2	27.6
Natural change per 1,000 residents	−10.1 ‰	−4.9 ‰
Net migration (arrivals minus departures) per 1,000 residents	17.8 ‰	5.0 ‰
Net migration with abroad per 1,000 residents	16.2 ‰	4.9 ‰
Share of residents aged 15 and over with higher education	17.5%	24.3%
Share of employed residents working outside their municipality	21.5%	33.9%
Share of employed residents in agriculture, forestry and fishing	10.5%	4.3%
Share of employed residents in mining, manufacturing, energy and water supply	12.5%	17.4%
Share of employed residents in construction	7.8%	7.7%
Share of employed residents in accommodation and food service activities	11.5%	8.1%
Share of occupied dwellings with a gas installation	4.7%	41.3%
Share of occupied dwellings with air conditioning	21.0%	52.8%
Share of occupied dwellings connected to a sewage disposal system	98.6%	99.2%
Net income per resident (per year)	8,472 €	9,698 €
Average annual net pay per employee	11,318 €	12,677 €
Average annual net pension per pensioner	6,226 €	7,010 €
Employees with pay per 1,000 residents	489	500
Pensioners per 1,000 residents	371	304
Tourist nights per resident	224.4	78.7
Average nights per arrival	5.6	5.1
Share of nights by foreign tourists	92.5%	91.6%
Beds per 1,000 residents	3,800	1,050
Share of beds in hotels and similar accommodation	4.6%	13.7%
Share of beds in campsites	22.1%	21.7%

Frequently asked questions

How many municipalities are there in Lika-Senj County?

Lika-Senj County has 12 municipalities. The most populous is Gospić, with 11,903 residents.

What is the population of Lika-Senj County?

Lika-Senj County has 43,591 residents (2025), or 22 people per km².

Which municipality in Lika-Senj County is growing fastest?

Novalja has the fastest growth in Lika-Senj County over 10 years: +18.3%.