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Croatia is becoming more reliant on foreign workers as thousands of them are needed for the country to meet its annual needs.
It is estimated that almost 70,000 seasonal workers are needed in the tourism industry in order for Croatia to maintain its numbers, Schengen.News reports.
Bosnia and Herzegovina remains Croatia’s top source market for seasonal workers, with the Croatian Ministry of Interior revealing that in 2024, 38,1000 Bosnian citizens came to Croatia for employment purposes. Nepal is the second source market with 35,635 workers, while Serbia is third with 27,988.
However, as data from the Croatian Ministry of Interior reveals, Nepalese workers were granted most work and residence permits to all foreigner applicants in January and February of 2025, indicating that Nepalese could soon overcome Bosnians as top foreign workers in Croatia.
In addition to Nepalese, foreign nationals from other Asian countries such as India and the Philippines are increasingly coming to Croatia for work purposes with 28,000 and 14,700 work and residence permits being granted to these two nationality groups in 2025.
During this period, the majority of work and residence permits were issued to construction workers, representing 75,000 or 36.3 per cent of the total. Tourism and hospitality were the second most common reasons for work and residence permits granted, with 56,000 residence permits granted, while another 28,500 were offered to workers of the industry.
Workers in Croatia Particularly Needed in Tourism Sector
Seasonal workers are needed in several occupations, especially tourism, construction and trade. Due to the high demand for workers, it is expected that Croatia will also offer an increase in income for foreign and seasonal workers.
According to the data from the National Bureau of Statistics, the average salary in Croatia in 2025 was €1,361. Salaries for foreign and seasonal workers cannot be lower than what a Croatian worker in a similar position gets paid.
The demand for seasonal workers in Croatia has changed throughout the years, as in 2022 about 30,000 seasonal workers were needed in the first half of the year. This number dropped to 21,000 in 2023, to reach 70,000 in 2025.
Source: https://schengen.news/croatia-remains-70000-seasonal-workers-short-in-2025/
