According to Eurostat data, the European Union issued around 3.5 million first residence permits in 2024 to people who are not EU citizens.

This means that these people received permission to legally reside in one of the member states. The latest data from Eurostat indicate that this number is 8.3% lower than in the record year 2023, when the number of permits issued was the highest in history.

Of all these permits, around 1.1 million were issued for employment reasons. In other words, nearly one in three first permits in the EU was related to work.

Croatia in the focus of work permits

In the category of first permits for employment, Croatia stood out in particular. According to available data, Croatia issued 85,574 first work permits in 2024 to third-country nationals. For comparison, Germany issued 77,149 such permits, and Spain 95,735, while Poland leads with 337,874 permits.

These figures show the absolute number of new workers, how many people actually received a work permit in each country. In absolute terms, Poland is the leader, Croatia and Germany are in the top four, but Croatia is surprising with its high number compared to Germany, a country with a much larger population and a long tradition of labor immigration.

Share of work permits in the total number of first permits

It is important to distinguish absolute figures from the relative focus on work. In Croatia, as many as 95.3% of all first permits were issued for employment reasons, which is the highest share in the entire EU. This means that almost all people who received a permit for the first time in Croatia came because of work, while family, education, and other reasons are marginal.

In Germany, the situation is different. There, 36.1% of first permits were granted for family reasons, and the share of work permits is lower. In other words, Germany balances the reasons for arrival, while in Croatia work almost always prevails. This relative indicator makes Croatia the EU leader in concentration on work permits among first permits.

Total number of first permits and other categories

If we look at all first permits, regardless of the reason, Spain leads with 561,640 permits, Germany follows with 544,987, Poland has 488,846, Italy 346,411, and France 342,208. In the EU in 2024, work permits accounted for around one third of all first permits, family permits 27%, educational 15.7%, and other reasons, including international protection, 25.3%.

These figures show overall immigration activity and the reasons for arrival, while the absolute numbers of work permits show how many new workers from outside the EU each country admitted.

Changes compared to the previous year

It is particularly interesting who received fewer or more permits compared to the previous year. For example, Belarus records a decline of 37.9%, Turkey 12.6%, and Afghanistan 10.1%. This shows how quickly migration flows change and how much certain countries depend on specific migration waves.

What does all this mean for Croatia?

Croatia, although smaller in population and economic capacity compared to Germany or Poland, is successfully attracting workers from outside the EU. While in Germany people come for work, family, or education, in Croatia almost all first permits are issued for employment. Croatia is thus the relative leader in the share of work permits among first permits and shows that with appropriate policies and working conditions it can be a significant destination for labor immigration in the EU.