April the 14th, 2025 – The pool of foreign labour from neighbouring countries is drying up, and Croatia has issued the highest number of stay and work permits to Nepali citizens.
As Poslovni Dnevnik/Jadranka Dozan writes, the typical seasonal nature of the Croatian employment has long since taken hold. The employment growth that began back in February has since been accelerating. After the number of insured persons registered with the Croatian Pension Insurance Institute increased by slightly less than 4,000 in the second month of 2025, it increased by more than 11,000 in March, reaching a grand total of 1.72 million.
As expected, the growth in employment in the tourism and hospitality sector and in construction contributed the most to this. These two groups of activities are responsible for almost half of last month’s increase in employment.
A similar pattern is expected in the following months, and the latest data on stay and work permits issued to foreign labour (people from outside the EU) is also on the same track. According to the Ministry of the Interior (MUP), slightly more than 19,200 stay and work permits were issued in March, of which around 12,600 were for work in tourism and hospitality and construction.
In the first three months of 2025, the total number of stay and work permits reached 53,662, which is about 1,470 more than in the same period last year. However, it remains to be noted that those issued for new employment positions are slightly fewer than last year (34,000 compared to last year’s 36,200 more). Slightly fewer (by about 40) than last year were issued for seasonal jobs, but at the same time, the number of extensions increased by more than 4,000, reaching a total of 17,250.
croatia issues the most work permits to nepali citizens
The most numerous among those for whom Croatia issued stay and work permits were obtained in the first quarter of 2025 are Nepali citizens. Over one in five permits apply to them alone, or more than 12,000 of them. That represents a 13% increase compared to the same period last year. The Ministry of the Interior’s data once again confirms that the pool of labour from nearby and neighbouring countries is gradually decreasing.
If we look at March alone, almost the same number of permits were issued for the employment of workers from Nepal and Bosnia and Herzegovina. For workers from Bosnia and Herzegovina in the first three months of this year, 9,389 permits were issued, or about 620 fewer than last year. Likewise, there were about a hundred fewer issued for those from Serbia (a total of 5,945 as of March). Among other countries from the immediate region, an increase was recorded only for Macedonian nationals (about 200 more than last year).
At the same time, when it comes to workers from distant Asian countries, a lower number of permits issued compared to 2024 was recorded only for citizens of Bangladesh. It increased for Filipinos with almost 6,000 permits issued (about 1,800 more than last year), as well as for Indians (a total of 5,555, or about 500 more than last year). Relatively speaking, the number of permits issued for Egyptian nationals has also been growing more strongly; 2,000 permits issued for them means an increase of more than 50%. Still, Croatia issuing the most work permits to Nepali nationals out of all those from distant countries is clear.
Looking at the main industries in terms of employing foreigners, construction continues to lead in terms of the number of permits issued (17,343 by the end of the first quarter). Compared to the same period last year, this represents a decrease of more than 2,000. However, at the same time, there were 1,640 more permits for work in tourism and hospitality issued this year (a total of 15,870), almost 900 more in the trade sector or a total of 2,779, and around 650 more in transport and communications, bringing their number to over 4,400.
1.72 million employed
When it comes to total employment measured by the number of insured persons with the Croatian Social Insurance Institution, the current 1.72 million represents an annual increase of around 3.3 percent or 54.5,000 people who work and pay contributions. Compared to the first quarter of 2024, employment is now 6.1% higher, or by almost 99,000. When looking at three-year comparisons, it is 137.3,000 higher, an increase of 8.7%.
In the past year , employment in construction increased the most in absolute terms, where 9,700 more people work today than they did a year ago. This sector is followed by two groups of activities that, in terms of employment, predominantly relate to the public sector – health and social care, where there are 7,217 more insured persons today, and public administration and defence, with an increase of around 5,900.
In terms of annual comparisons, a decrease in the number of insured persons has been recorded only by financial services (by 270) and two production blocks – the manufacturing industry (around 1,200 fewer insured persons) and agriculture, forestry and fishing (170 fewer).
