Estimated 3.2 million people of Croat descent live worldwide

Exploring how many people with Croatian roots live around the world

ZAGREB, 16 March (Hina) – An estimated 3.2 million Croatian expats and people who have Croatian ethnic background live around the world, according to the data provided by the Central State Office for Croats Abroad, while the last population census show that Croatia’s population totals 3.87 million.

“Based on the estimates of Croatian diplomatic Missions and consular offices, Croatian Catholic Missions, as well as the census taken in the countries where Croatian emigrants and their descendants live, and also based on the estimates of Croatian communities in some of those countries, it is considered that approximately 3,200,000 Croatian emigrants and their descendants are residing outside the Republic of Croatia and worldwide, ” says the office.

The most numerous expat Croat community is in the USA, 1.2 million.

Germany ranks second with an estimated 500,000 people with ethnic Croat roots.

There are about 250,000 ethnic Croats and their descendants in Argentina, Australia and Canada each.

Chile follows with an estimated 200,000 people with ethnic Croat background, New Zealand (100,000), Austria (90,000) and Switzerland (80,000 and Brazil (70,000) make the top ten destinations for expat Croats.

Overseas emigration at turn of 20th century

Traditionally, Croatia is the country of emigration with several periods being singled out when migration waves occurred:  thus, for instance between the 1880s and the WW1, Croats moved into the USA, South America, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

Between two World Wars more and more Croats left for Germany, France and Belgium and at the end of the Second World War they fled to Argentina, some other Latin American countries and to North America.

In mid-1960,  west Europe most attractive for Croat workers

Since 1965, most of Croats from Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina immigrated in Germany and other countries in western and norther Europe as well as in Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

In early 1990s, refugees fleeing Great Serbia war of aggression

Upon the collapse of the Socialist Yugoslav federation and during the Homeland War, people with Croats origins moved into Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Canada, the USA, Australia and New Zealand. “Croatian emigrants during the 1990s were mostly refugees from the war-torn areas as a consequence of Greater Serbian aggression against the Republic of Croatia.”

“Croats kept emigrating both for economic and political reasons. The older generations of Croatian people abroad, primarily ‘economic emigrants’, still show an interest in the events in the homeland, while the younger generations have already been assimilated, but are still interested in their Croatian roots,” says the Office.

“A particular group of Croatian emigrants consists of ‘economic emigrants who emigrated in the 1960s and mostly live in Western European countries. Some of them are well integrated into their country of domicile (especially the younger Croats). Others still consider themselves to be temporary emigrants and want to return to Croatia.”

The largest number of political emigrants moved to South and North America after the Second World War, says the Office.

“The wish to maintain links with their homeland is common to all Croatian emigrants, both to those who live overseas and those who live in the vicinity of their homeland. Our main goal is to preserve the identity of Croatian emigrants, irrespective of the time and reason of their emigration, their level of education and the general profile of Croatian emigrants,” says the Office.