In terms of the area, the Zasavska statistical region is the smallest in Slovenia. With 485 square kilometres it is more than five times smaller than Jugovzhodna Slovenia, the largest one. Zasavska had about 3% of Slovenia’s population in 2022. With a population density of 117 inhabitants per square kilometre, it was the third most densely populated region. The Zasavska region is the only one with an equal share of men and women in the population, 50% each. In mid-2022, there were 28,464 men and 28,478 women living in the region. The share of foreign citizens among the population was among the lowest (6.7%). Women in the region gave birth to their first child at an average age of 29.6 years, which was the same as the national average. Life expectancy at birth in 2022 in this region was one of the lowest among the regions. Girls can expect to live to 82.2 years, which was the second lowest life expectancy and 2.4 years lower than in Obalno-kraška, where it was the highest. Boys can expect to live to 77.0 years of age, which was the third lowest expected age and 2.6 years lower than in Osrednjeslovenska, where it was the highest. Together with Pomurska and Posavska, it was one of the three regions with the lowest average age at death, 77.8 years. The premature mortality rate, which measures the share of people under 65 who died in a particular year, was the second highest among the regions, at 16.7%. Of all 1–5-year-olds, 81.7% were included in kindergartens, which was just above the national average (81.6%). The educational structure of the population was less favourable, with 25–64-year-olds in the region having on average a lower level of educational attainment. Namely, 15.3% of the population had basic education or less, which was the second highest share, while 26.9% had tertiary education, which was the second lowest share. In both cases, only Pomurska was ahead. The region had 32 students per 1,000 population, making it one of the regions with fewer students.
The employment rate in Zasavska in 2022 was slightly lower than the national average; it was 68.2%. The difference between the employment rate for men (70.9%) and women (65.3%) was the second lowest among the regions at 5.6 percentage points. The share of people who worked outside the region of residence was the highest in this region (53.1%); the vast majority of these persons worked in the Osrednjeslovenska statistical region. Average net earnings amounted to EUR 1,222, which was EUR 97 less than the national average or EUR 215 less than in Osrednjeslovenska. In the Zasavska statistical region the GDP per capita was the lowest in the country (EUR 14,563), representing 1.5% of the national GDP. The region had a little less than 4,300 enterprises.
Residents of this region assessed their life satisfaction with 7.6 out of 10, the same as the average in the country and the same as in Posavska. The severe material deprivation rate was the highest in this region, at 4.5%. On the other hand, 10.1% of the population in the region lived on incomes below the at-risk-of-poverty threshold, the fourth lowest share among the regions. The share of households where all household members can afford a one-week annual holiday away from home was one of the lowest, 73% or 7 percentage points lower than the average for Slovenia. The number of passenger cars per 1,000 population was also the lowest (543), while their average age (10.9 years) was the same as the national average.