Its population is earns its living primarily from agricultural production. The population has been decreasing continuously for a number of years. As of 2001, Hlebine had 1470 inhabitants with the overwhelming majority being Croats.
History
Hlebine is first mentioned 1671 as a village in the Drnje parish. It became an independent parish in the 18th century. In the late 19th century and early 20th century, Hlebine was part of the Bjelovar-Križevci County of the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia. It was a part of Koprivnica county until 1993. Hlebine is also an important city for Croatian art, and is a center of Croatian naive art. It is a birth town of Franjo Mraz, Krsto Hegedušić, Ivan Generalić, Josip Generalić and Franjo Gaži. To Hlebine naive painting movement belonged also Mirko Virius, dead in camp at Zemun around 1943.
