Foreign workers send nearly €1.6 billion out of Croatia in 9 months

(Illustration)

Croatians working abroad sent more than €4.8 billion back to Croatia during the first nine months of last year, according to the latest data from the Croatian National Bank (HNB).

At the same time, foreign workers employed in Croatia transferred almost €1.576 billion to their home countries, highlighting Croatia’s increasingly complex role in global labour migration, Novi List reports.

As in previous years, Germany remained by far the largest source of remittances, with Croatian households receiving €1.83 billion. This was followed by Ireland (€517.9 million), the Netherlands (€472.8 million), Austria (€371.4 million) and Slovenia (€243.6 million).

Among the top ten countries sending money to Croatia were also Switzerland (€195 million), the United States (€145.3 million), Italy (€125 million), the United Kingdom (€82.7 million) and Bosnia and Herzegovina (€78.8 million).

Remittances also arrived from more distant countries, including Serbia (€22.4 million), Canada (€22.3 million), Singapore (€17.9 million) and Russia (€8.5 million), underlining the wide global spread of Croatia’s diaspora.

Where Foreign Workers Send Their Earnings

Foreign workers in Croatia sent the most money to Bosnia and Herzegovina, with transfers totalling €326.6 million, accounting for around one-fifth of all outflows.

Nepal followed with €221.8 million, while Serbia ranked third at €180.8 million.

Significant sums were also sent to the Philippines (€136.8 million), India (€114.5 million), North Macedonia (€82.1 million), Ukraine (€58.3 million), Kosovo (€51.1 million), Uzbekistan (€45.7 million) and Egypt (€36.4 million).

These figures closely mirror the number of work and residence permits issued in Croatia.

According to the Ministry of the Interior, more than 160,000 permits were issued to foreign nationals by the end of November last year, most commonly to citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Nepal, Serbia, the Philippines, and India.