In the first seven months of 2026, 106,000 work permits were issued, 9,000 fewer than last year. Tourism sees slight growth, while unions fight for greater rights for domestic and foreign workers.
Croatia's labor market is seeing a decline in reliance on foreign labor for the second consecutive year. According to the latest data from the Ministry of the Interior (MUP), by the end of July 2026, approximately 106,000 residence and work permits were issued to foreign nationals. This is about 9,000 fewer than in the same period last year and a full 25,000 fewer compared to the record year of 2024, when 131,000 permits were issued in the first seven months.
Of this year's total permits, 41,716 were issued for new employment, 41,388 for extensions of existing permits, and 23,291 for seasonal workers. These figures suggest a consolidation of the market following the entry into force of the new Aliens Act, which tightened the conditions for obtaining work permits with the aim of introducing order and ensuring better working conditions.
The largest drop in employment was recorded among workers from Nepal. In the first seven months of this year, about 14,500 permits were issued for them, 6,000 fewer than last year, causing them to fall from second to fourth place. Meanwhile, workers from the Philippines saw the largest increase, with about 5,000 more permits issued. With a total of 15,700 permits, Filipinos are now the third largest group of foreign workers.
Workers from the region still top the list. Citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina received nearly 20,000 permits, and workers from Serbia about 18,000. They are followed by the Philippines, Nepal, North Macedonia (10,000), India (6,000), Uzbekistan (4,500), Kosovo (3,800), Egypt (2,000), and Albania (1,800). In addition to Nepalis, declines compared to last year were also recorded for workers from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, India, Bangladesh, and Egypt.
The most dramatic changes are occurring in the construction sector. In the first seven months of 2024, employers obtained about 44,000 work permits for foreigners. Last year, that number fell to 33,000, and this year to just 27,000. This means that construction has lost 17,000 work permits in just two years, or nearly 40 percent, which could also indicate a slowdown in construction activity.
Unlike construction, tourism and hospitality are showing stability. In this sector, about 43,700 work permits were issued this year, 2,000 more than last year and only 400 fewer than in the record year of 2024. Foreign workers have become a constant in Croatian tourism, without which it can no longer function.
With the growing number of foreign workers, the importance of protecting their rights also increases. The Tourism and Services Union of Croatia (STUH), the only trade union in tourism, continues to inform foreign workers about working conditions and the role of unions. The sectoral collective agreement applies to them as well, but in practice, recognition of prior service remains complex, especially for workers from distant countries.
A new collective agreement with employers was signed at the end of March 2026 and has been in effect since May 1. One of the novelties is an increase in minimum wages in hospitality by 25 to 28 percent, aligned with the growth of the minimum wage in Croatia. However, this has reduced the gap between the simplest and most complex jobs, which demotivates workers in more demanding positions.
"This is a significant burden for our workers, so, for example, in collective bargaining we sought some kind of compensation for mentoring, but that did not pass," said Roberto Erman, STUH union representative for Istria and Kvarner.
Erman added that domestic workers, in addition to their regular jobs, often have to mentor and train foreign colleagues, which creates an additional burden. Contracts with special powers remain a problem, which, according to legal interpretations, should be reserved for a small number of truly managerial positions. Croatia remains the country with the highest seasonality in Europe, which, along with wage levels and the difficulty of the work, further complicates resolving staffing issues in tourism.
