February the 9th, 2026 ? While it?s true that Croats are returning from Germany, there?s nowhere near enough of them compared to the number leaving to other countries, and it isn?t all good news?

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, due to the crisis in the construction and automotive industries, more and more people are emigrating from Germany. Among them are Croats who have decided to find a better life in Croatia and are returning from Germany. This might sound all good at first, but it isn?t. First of all, nowhere near enough people who have left Croatia will return, and the reason for returning from Germany specifically shouldn?t be because things have become too economically strained there. That particular reason doesn?t mean Croatia is better in any sense, and nobody should be lulled into a false sense of confidence about this trend.

New data from the German Statistical Office (Destatis) confirms the trend of emigration of Croats from that country, which has been rumoured for some time. Last year, according to official data, a little over 11,000 Croats moved to Germany, and more than 22,000 emigrated. This means that twice as many Croats were returning from Germany than arrived there. It should be kept in mind that this pertains solely and only to Germany, and this trend isn?t the case elsewhere. There are also those who are currently planning to pack up and leave. Among them is the five-member Krtalić family.

“My wife and I are Croats who will be returning, I?m also encouraging the children to return. We have a motive, we have two empty houses in Slavonia, and now we need to fix them up. Money is no longer a motive here. Everything needs to be de-registered here, I?ve said it a hundred times, it?s much easier to come to Germany than it is to leave it. You take your ID and a suitcase, and when you return it?s much more complicated, you have to de-register yourself from this, that and the other. There?s a hell of a lot of all that, and the preparation takes at least three months,” Stanko Krtalić revealed to Dnevnik.hr.

As stated above, it should be said that not everyone returned to Croatia, and while the figures of Croats returning from Germany appear encouraging, the situation runs far deeper. Some decided to go to other countries, which offer them better business opportunities. The German statistics also include those with dual citizenship who may have never even lived in Croatia at any point. In any case, over the past three years, more than 14,500 Croats have returned from Germany, technically speaking, anyway.

?In the construction and building sector, there?s been a bit of a crisis in Germany. People who have lost their jobs or their workload has decreased are of course returning, and the auto industry has also been in crisis for a long time,? explained Andrej Brdar, another Croat from Germany, who pointed out that this is precisely the reason for Croatian emigration.

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