Regulations on Island Development Indicators and the Assessment of Island Development

In Narodne novine No. 100 of September 9, 2026, the Ordinance on Island Development Indicators and the Procedure for Assessing Island Development (item 1204) was published. The regulation was adopted by the Minister of Regional Development and EU Funds Nataša Mikuš Žigman based on Article 11, paragraph 8 of the Islands Act (“Narodne novine”, No. 13/26), and enters into force on the eighth day from the date of publication.

The Ordinance prescribes the thematic groups of island development indicators as well as the procedure for assessing and monitoring the development of inhabited islands and the Pelješac peninsula, which has the status of an island. 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, while taking insularity into account.

Eleven thematic groups of indicators

According to Article 5 of the Ordinance, island development indicators include the following thematic groups:

• health sector indicators
• social services indicators
• preschool and education 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

Each group may include indicators that measure the availability, quality, and efficiency of individual services and infrastructure, for example, the development of health infrastructure and human resource capacities, educational outcomes, the state of entrepreneurial infrastructure, the preservation of cultural heritage, energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy sources, as well as population mobility and the accessibility of islands relative to the mainland.

Assessment procedure and information system

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. The assessment is based on outcome indicators, and for each thematic group, the Ministry determines at least one outcome indicator, which may be changed and supplemented.

The assessment is carried out by the Ministry of Regional Development and EU Funds at least once every three years, while the long-term and cumulative effects of development processes are monitored and assessed using performance indicators. Data on indicator values are recorded 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 for calculating indicator values are retrieved from official records via the state information infrastructure, whenever technically possible and available at the island level. If data are not included in the state information infrastructure or cannot be retrieved at the requested spatial level, the competent state administration bodies and public law bodies are obliged, upon request of the Ministry, to provide the requested data in the form and within the deadlines determined by the Ministry.

Significance for Island Policy

The new Ordinance establishes a uniform framework for measuring the development of islands, thereby creating an objective basis for directing development measures and public investments on the islands. For the island population and local self-government units, this means more transparent monitoring of the status and needs of individual islands and a clearer basis for planning and implementing island development policies.

Ordinance on Island Development Indicators and the Procedure for Assessing Island Development, »Narodne novine« no. 100, September 9, 2026, item 1204. Class: 304-01/26-04/14, Ref. No: 538-08-1-1-1/660-26-14, Zagreb, September 3, 2026. — Nataša Mikuš Žigman, Minister of Regional Development and EU Funds, signed.