Over 100,000 foreign workers arrive in Croatia so far in 2025 – here is where they came from

Croatia has welcomed more than 100,000 foreign workers since the start of the year, with the largest numbers coming from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Nepal, Serbia, the Philippines and India.

According to the latest data from the Ministry of the Interior, around 115,000 residence and work permits were issued in the first seven months of 2025, Poslovni dnevnik reported.

This is slightly higher than the 112,389 permits issued between January and June 2024.

Foreign workers are most in demand in tourism and hospitality, which accounted for 38,372 permits, followed by construction with 36,864 and industry with 13,704.

Transport and communications saw 7,723 permits issued, while trade accounted for 4,163. The figures show little change from last year’s trends.

Petar Lovrić, Vice President of the Croatian Employers’ Association Coordination for Agency Work and Employment Mediation, praised the improvements in the permit process.

“The state has introduced much more order in the issuing of work and residence permits. The Ministry of Labour is now doing an excellent job through the Employment Service by checking whether employers really need these permits and whether they meet the requirements. We have moved past unethical ‘headhunting’ practices thanks to legal changes,” he said.

The shortage of labour is the result of several factors, including the emigration of young people, negative demographic trends and strong economic growth.

“We have the highest number of registered insured workers in the history of our country. Economic growth has created demand for new jobs, and even without emigration we would still need more workers. Foreign employees fill positions in sectors where there is no available domestic workforce. Without them, the economy would not function,” said Irena Weber, Director General of the Croatian Employers’ Association.

Weber also called for reducing the number of employees in the public sector and encouraging their employment in the private sector, as well as further tax relief for labour. She warned against aggressive wage growth, noting that Croatia already leads the EU in wage increases, which could affect competitiveness.

While the majority of foreign workers come from the region and Asia, Weber stressed that domestic workers remain the priority for employers. “There is no better worker than a domestic one in terms of language, loyalty, teamwork, skills and compliance with safety procedures,” she said.