Diaspora Send $1.5 Billion Back to Croatia

Croatia probably has the largest diaspora around the world than any other European county…

From 1993 to 2015 the diaspora sent to Croatia 65 billion USD. According to date from both the World Bank and the Croatian National Bank, the Croatian diaspora sent back 1.5 billion USD to their families in Croatia last year. It is estimated that a lot more come back into the 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, writes Glas Slavonija.

The State Office says that despite a negative picture in the media that its popular for Croats to leave Croatia to go live abroad, interesting in those returning is on the up.

“In 2013 around 11,000 Croats came back to Croatia to live, not counting those that came as students. The number returning has been growing and we expect the latest figures to show a more than (11,000) for last year. All generations are returning – from students to those retired. There are also more families with small kids coming back which is good – those couples between 30-50 who want their kids to grow up in Croatia,” the State Office said.

According to the State Office, the most amount of Croats returning are from Germany and Austria, followed by America, Canada, Australia and South America.