The new regulation introduces island development indicators and three-year evaluations

The Minister of Regional Development and European Union Funds, Nataša Mikuš Žigman, has adopted the Ordinance on Island Development Indicators and the Procedure for Assessing Island Development, published in Official Gazette No. 100 of September 9, 2026. The Ordinance introduces ten thematic groups of island development indicators and the obligation to assess the development of inhabited islands and the Pelješac peninsula at least once every three years. The regulation enters into force eight days from the date of publication, namely September 17, 2026.

The Ordinance is adopted based on Article 11, paragraph 8 of the Islands Act (“Official Gazette”, No. 13/26.), and bears the markings Class: 304-01/26-04/14 and Registry Number: 538-08-1-1-1/660-26-14, signed in Zagreb on September 3, 2026. It prescribes the thematic groups of island development indicators and the procedure for assessing and monitoring island development, thereby creating a basis for the planning and implementation of island development policy.

Ten thematic groups of indicators

Island development indicators represent a set of data used to determine, monitor, and assess the development of an individual island and form the basis for conducting island development policy. The Ordinance has established ten thematic groups:

• health sector indicators
• social services indicators
• education and training indicators
• economic and socio-economic indicators
• cultural sector indicators
• energy infrastructure and energy supply indicators
• water supply and drainage indicators
• environmental protection indicators
• digital connectivity indicators
• transport and mobility indicators

For each thematic group, the Ministry determines at least one outcome indicator, which measures the short-term and medium-term effects of development processes, and indicators may be changed and supplemented.

Assessment every three years and monitoring of effects

The assessment of island development is defined as a systematic analytical procedure of collecting, processing, and interpreting indicators with the aim of determining the state and direction of development of each individual island and identifying development needs. The Ministry is obliged to conduct the assessment at least once every three years, and the results are expressed through reports on the state and development of islands, professional bases for the preparation of regulations, strategies, plans, and programs, and recommendations for development measures.

In addition to outcome indicators, the Ordinance introduces impact indicators that measure the long-term and cumulative effects of development processes, which may include demographic indicators and quality of life satisfaction indicators. Impact indicators are collected and interpreted at least once every ten years.

Integrated information system of island indicators

Data on the values of island development indicators are recorded and processed at the level of each individual island as a unique spatial entity in the Integrated Information System of Island Indicators, which the Ministry establishes and maintains as part of the Register of Islands. Data are retrieved from official records via the state information infrastructure, and where this is not possible, the competent state administration bodies and public law bodies are obliged, upon the Ministry’s request, to provide the requested data in the form and within the deadlines determined by the Ministry.

The results of the island development assessment are published on the Ministry’s website, thereby ensuring transparency and public availability of data on the state of development of individual islands.

The new assessment framework directly affects the distribution of development grants and the direction of investments in public infrastructure on the islands; therefore, the results of the triennial assessments will be crucial for planning development measures and priorities in the coming period.

»The assessment of island development represents a systematic analytical process of collecting, processing, and interpreting indicators with the aim of determining the state and direction of development of each individual island, identifying development needs, and providing a basis for the planning and implementation of island development policies.« — Ordinance on Island Development Indicators and the Procedure for Assessing Island Development, Article 7, Official Gazette No. 100/2026.