Croatians Abroad Send Record €2 Billion Back Home

Last year Croatia’s large diaspora around the world sent over 2 billion euros back home.

According to the latest data from the Croatian National Bank, Croats living abroad sent home 2.07 billion euros in 2015, Glas Slavonija reported.

That figure is up from 1.4 billion euros the previous year, putting Croatia among the countries which in the last few years has seen increasing steady growth in transfers from its own citizens abroad. Part of this can be contributed to the increase in Croatians emigrating abroad in the last few years.

The 2.07 billion euros was money transfered into Croatian bank accounts, including pension payments from abroad and gifts.

From 1993 to 2015 the diaspora sent to Croatia 60 billion euros. It is estimated that a lot more has come back into Croatia from the diaspora via unofficial channels.

Although believed to be higher, the State Office for Croats Outside Croatia estimates that the Croatian diaspora, which includes emigrants and their descendants, is made up of around 3 million people. In 12 European countries there are around 350,000, whilst in Bosnia and Herzegovina around 570,000

“15 years ago the generation who went to work abroad in the 70s and 80s were sending around 1 billion euros home. It does not surprise me that the figure is now around 2 billion euros because transfers are made by the old generation still and the new who have recently emigrated”, Economist Velimir Šonje said, adding that for Croatia it is a significant source of foreign currency inflow to the country.

On a global scale, the most money sent back ‘home’ from emigrants was from India (72 billion dollars), followed by China (63 billion), the Philippines (29 billion), Mexico (25 billion), France (24 billion) Nigeria (21 billion) and Egypt (20 billion). From Europe, Ukrainians, Tazakhstans and Romanians sent the most money home, World Bank Data revealed.