Most returnees to eastern Croatia

The research study titled "Croats in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg: return or stay?" was recently presented to the public by professors from the Department of Demography and Croatian Emigration at the Croatian Studies, Monika Balija and Tamara Bodor, and shows trends in the return of emigrants to Croatia.

The research was presented at a forum of the Department of International Cooperation and Emigration of the Croatian Heritage Foundation, and Monika Balija noted that in 2024, 425 thousand Croatian citizens lived in Germany. “This figure includes only people who have only Croatian citizenship, so it can be assumed that there are significantly more Croats in Germany than this number,” she added.

She also said that the number of Croatian citizens has increased particularly in the last ten years, and that, for example, in 2010 there were around 220 thousand, and today there are almost twice as many. From 2022 to 2024, the number of Croats will decrease by approximately 8 thousand.

“This decrease cannot be attributed to natural movements,” she noted, adding that in recent years more Croatian citizens have been born in Germany than have died.

In 2023 and 2024, she emphasized, more Croatian citizens emigrated from Germany than immigrated there. “The number of immigrants from Croatia to Germany in 2024 was the lowest since 2011, although the number of immigrants is still higher than those who returned to Croatia,” she said.

“In total, around 7,500 people emigrated from Germany to Croatia in 2024,” she noted, adding that 80 percent of them were Croatian citizens, while slightly more than 8,000 emigrated.

She believes that it is not correct to talk about a mass return of Croatian emigrants, but, she added, the trends in recent years have been somewhat more favorable for Croatia.

“From 2013 to 2024, around 170,000 people emigrated from Croatia to Germany, while 40,000 immigrated to Croatia,” Balija noted.

“Of the total number of Croatian citizens living in Germany today, the majority, approximately 50 percent, are those who immigrated to Germany in the past ten years,” Balija said.

Tamara Bodor pointed out that research shows that the new Croatian emigrants, as many as 34 percent, never participate in the cultural and social events of the Croatian community in Germany.

“19.7 percent of them participate in these events rarely, once a year, and 40.7 percent occasionally. The latest research shows that the modern generation of respondents does not connect so closely with the Croatian community when it comes to emigration,” said Bodor.

She emphasized that around 34 percent of respondents plan to return to Croatia in the period between one and ten years. “Ten percent are already taking steps to move and return to Croatia in less than a year,” she said, adding that 20 percent do not plan to return, and only 9 percent of those 20 percent only occasionally think about returning.

“Of the emigrants who plan to return to Croatia, a maximum of 26 percent plan to return to eastern Croatia,” she said, adding that this is followed by Dalmatia with 22 percent, central Croatia with 17 percent, Zagreb with 14 percent, and Istria and Kvarner with 10 percent.

“The most prevalent motives for returning are the desire to live in their homeland, for a more relaxed and peaceful life, closer proximity to family and social networks in Croatia, and nostalgia or cultural affiliation,” Bodor pointed out.

She also emphasized that a fairly large number of responses from respondents who would return mentioned the resolved housing issue in Croatia. “The research shows that emigrants are poorly informed about the measures for returning to Croatia and have generally not even evaluated them,” she said, adding that around 10 percent believe that the measures for returning are completely insufficient, 13 percent rated them as partially inappropriate, and 13.2 percent as moderately appropriate.

The professors believe that the measures for returning should be made more accessible to as many emigrants as possible. “A good portion of respondents said that the measures offered are too narrow,” Bodor noted, adding that most emigrants believe that they cannot take advantage of them.

Given that the largest number of them live in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, a survey was conducted in these states on a sample of 634 Croatian citizens, which, among other things, examined their intentions to return.

The project "Croats in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg: (re)migration potential for the Republic of Croatia" was financed by the Ministry of Demography and Immigration.

Source: Hina