Parliamentary sitting: Legislative proposal presented enabling Croatians to buy real estate in OECD member countries

Minister Habijan presented legislative amendments to the Parliament today which equalise Croatian and foreign citizens and legal entities from OECD member states in terms of real estate acquisition 

In the legislative proposal, provisions on the acquisition of ownership rights in real estate by citizens and legal entities from OECD member countries are aligned with those valid for citizens and legal entities from Croatia, under the assumption of reciprocity. This means that Croatian citizens will also be able to acquire ownership rights in OECD member countries under the same conditions. The provisions are envisaged to come into force on the date of accession of the Republic of Croatia to the OECD.
 
"Accession to the OECD, having achieved all other foreign policy goals, is the crown of our foreign policy as well as an indicator and proof of where the Republic of Croatia wishes to be in terms of standards, quality of life, the rank of democratic processes and the rule of law. This law also opens up new opportunities for all Croatian citizens - to acquire ownership rights in real estate in OECD countries. Through all these reforms, Croatia has showed that it is on the right track and ready for membership in the OECD, which we hope and expect to happen in the early spring of 2026", concluded Minister Habijan.
 
The Minister explained that 22 of the 38 OECD member countries are also member states of the European Union. When it comes to land data, there is a total of 7,889,485 persons with an OIB (Croatian personal identification number) registered in land registers throughout Croatia. 4% of them are foreign nationals, including the nationals of EU member states.
 
In addition, in the period from 2013 to 2024, 1619 applications were received from non-EU OECD nationals, on the basis of which approval for the acquisition of real estate ownership was issued.
 
“This is only 0.5% of the total number of all foreign nationals who have been granted approval to acquire ownership of real estate”, Minister Habijan concluded.

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