Croatia at the Forefront in the Number of Young People Willing to Move ‘for a Better Life’

In 2016, Croatia, along with Estonia and Slovenia, recorded the highest share of unemployed young people willing to relocate to another European Union country for work, according to data from the European statistical office.

In Croatia, 26 percent of unemployed young people were willing to move to another EU country in 2016, placing it alongside Estonia at the top among EU countries, Eurostat reports. They note that these are countries “whose sample was large enough to draw conclusions.”

>>>President: Without people, there is no future; without people, there is no Croatia

Slovenia follows with 25 percent of unemployed citizens aged 20 to 34 willing to relocate to other Union countries to find employment.

The lowest share of unemployed young people, according to available Eurostat data, showed such willingness in the United Kingdom and Ireland, at five percent, followed by the Netherlands at six percent, and Italy at seven percent. On average, in the EU, 12 percent of young people expressed willingness to relocate to another EU country in 2016.

>>>Šterc: Croatia lost up to 90,000 residents in 2017

Sweden leads the group of EU countries with the highest share of young people willing to relocate outside the EU for work in 2016, at 34 percent. Spain and Finland follow with 28 percent, and France with 27 percent. In Croatia, 11 percent of young people expressed this willingness, less than the EU average where their share was 17 percent.

The most pronounced reluctance to relocate for work, whether within their home country or to other EU countries or outside the Union, was shown in 2016 by unemployed youth in Malta, where 73 percent would not relocate to find employment. The Netherlands follows with 69 percent of young people unwilling to move, and Cyprus with 68 percent.

>>>Slavonski Brod: Fewer births, babies leaving for Germany even before birth

In Croatia, 44 percent of young people in 2016 were not willing to change their place of residence to find a job, according to the report from the European statistical office.