Preliminary results from the latest census in Croatia show that the country lost about 150,000 residents in the past 10 years.

Croatia's Bureau of Statistics said Wednesday that fewer than 4.3 million people now live there, compared to more than 4.4 million a decade ago.

Demographers say about 100,000 more people died than were born during that period.

But the bureau's director, Ivan Kovac, said the apparent decline is due to a different methodology applied in the 2011 consensus. He said people who have a permanent address in Croatia, but live abroad for more than a year, were not counted this year as they were in 2001.

Results also show that Croatia has close to 1.6 million households.

Nearly 800,000 people, about 18 percent of the population, live in the capital, Zagreb. The next largest city, Split, has about 180,000 residents.

The census was conducted in April. Kovac said more details, such as ethnic, religious, age and gender breakdowns, will be available after further analysis, beginning early next year.