In ten years, 35 times more workers from Serbia in Croatia
Despite occasional political tensions and security warnings, the number of Serbian nationals working temporarily in Croatia continues to rise, reaching nearly 18,000 by the end of July.
Despite occasional political tensions and security warnings, the number of Serbian nationals working temporarily in Croatia continues to rise, reaching nearly 18,000 by the end of July.
In early March 2026, the public was surprised by the news that Serbia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs had placed Croatia in the orange group of countries, recommending its citizens "travel only if absolutely necessary." Croatia then found itself among about twenty unstable countries such as Haiti, Myanmar, Nigeria, and Venezuela, as the only European Union member with that designation. The recommendation was not to travel there "unless absolutely essential."
Although Croatia was later, with less attention, moved back to the yellow group with a milder recommendation for "travel with increased caution," it remained the only EU country that official Belgrade does not consider entirely safe for its citizens. However, data on arrivals of Serbian citizens to Croatia tells a completely different story.
While Croatia was still in the orange on the Serbian ministry's "traffic light," Serbian citizens continued to arrive in large numbers-whether for vacation or seasonal work. According to data from the Croatian National Tourist Board, from January to June 2026, 123,328 tourists from Serbia visited Croatia, generating 578,000 overnight stays, placing them eleventh in terms of numbers.
At the same time, data from the Ministry of the Interior (MUP) shows that in June, 15,863 Serbian nationals had approved temporary residence and work permits. In total, by mid-year, nearly 140,000 Serbian citizens had arrived in Croatia for vacation and work.
More recent MUP data from the end of July 2026 shows that this number has further increased. At that time, 17,876 Serbian nationals were working in Croatia, making them the second largest group of foreign workers. Only citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina are more numerous, with about two thousand more, while Filipinos are in third place with roughly two thousand fewer workers.
That the influx of workers from Serbia is closely tied to the tourist season is confirmed by monthly figures. From March, when 5,871 work permits were issued, to July, that number nearly tripled.
The ten-year growth trend is even more impressive. MUP data reveals that in 2016, there were only 379 Serbian nationals with approved temporary residence for work in Croatia. A year later, that number doubled to 767. Although there is no publicly available data for the period from 2018 to 2020, the figures for 2021 show a real explosion-13,579 workers, which is 35 times more than in 2016.
The rise continued: in 2022, 19,127 permits were issued, in 2023, 24,028, and 2024 was a record year with 27,988 permits. Last year, 2025, saw a slight decline to 24,278, bringing the number back to the 2023 level. Over the past five years, the total number of Serbian nationals on temporary residence and work in Croatia has increased by 78 percent.
Although citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina are traditionally the largest group of foreign workers in Croatia, their dominance is slowly weakening. While 38,236 worked there in 2023, that number fell to 32,355 last year. Close on their heels are workers from Nepal, with 31,708 working in 2025-only 517 fewer. For comparison, in 2016, only seven Nepalis and ten Filipinos worked in Croatia. Ten years later, there are 31,708 Nepalis with permits and 17,629 Filipinos.
