Over one hundred thousand work permits were issued to foreigners in seven months

In the period from January 01 to July 31, 2023, a total of 108.116 residence and work permits for foreign citizens were issued in Croatia. Last month alone, 16.517 work permits were approved in accordance with the Law on Foreigners, according to data from the Ministry of the Interior.

Of the total number of residence and work permits issued, as many as 69.809 were issued for new employment, 21.722 for the extension of permits, and 16.585 for seasonal workers (most of them in the tourism and catering industry - 15.123).

Looking at activities, the most permits were issued for work in construction, as many as 39.146. This means that this branch accounts for 36 percent of issued work permits. In tourism and catering, 37.022 work permits were issued. According to the mentioned data, it is evident that construction and tourism account for 70 percent of the permits issued for foreign workers.

In other activities, the situation is as follows:

- Industry – 13.260

- Traffic and connections – 5.742 

- Trade – 3.094 

The largest number of residence and work permits until July 31 were issued to citizens of the following countries:

- Bosnia and Herzegovina – 25.213 

- Serbia – 17.395 

- Nepal – 13.325

- North Macedonia – 10.322 

- India – 8.242

- Kosovo – 6.524 

- Philippines – 6.036 

- Bangladesh – 4.628 

- Turkey – 2.972

- Albania – 2.566

Most work permits were issued in Zagreb County, followed by Istria and Split-Dalmatia Counties. From the available data, it can be seen that the structure of foreign workers in Croatia is changing and that the share of those coming from neighboring countries is decreasing compared to the share of workers from Asian countries.

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