Croatians working in foreign countries have sent back some 15.75 billion kuna (2.1 billion euros) to family and friends in 2017, data released by the central bank (HNB) show.

This is some 120 million euros more than the year before, which clearly illustrates the growing numbers of people leaving Croatia to live and work abroad, Slobodna Dalmacija reported on Sunday (March 25).

Only ten years ago Croatians’ remittances amounted to 1.3 billion euros, and it was not until 2011 when they grew to 1.5 billion euros. Since 2015, when remittances totalled 1.88 billion euros, the amount started growing by around 100 million euros every year.

This is in line with numbers of emigrants, which started to rise in 2014 and 2015 and then rapidly accelerated in the last two years. From 13,000 emigrants in 2011 and 2012, the number rose to 15,000 in 2013, 21,000 in 2014 and to 27,000 in 2015. According to state statistics bureau, some 39,000 people left Croatia in 2016, or 45 percent up from the year before.