People are emigrating from Croatia mostly because the state is poorly organised and run, because of incompetent politicians and political parties, and because of a feeling of despondency and lack of prospects, shows a survey on motives for emigration from Croatia, presented in Zagreb on Wednesday.

The survey, commissioned by the Croatian Employers Association (HUP), covered 661 respondents who have emigrated to 26 countries, and was conducted from 15 March to 15 May. The survey covered the period from Croatia’s accession to the EU, in July 2013, to February 2018.

Among the most frequently cited reasons for emigration are a poorly organised and poorly run state, incompetent politicians and political parties lacking vision (8 percent), despondency, lack of prospects and the decline of the “state, society and nation” (7.6 percent), as well as hirings based on political criteria and nepotism, Agan Begic, director of the Promocija Plus market research agency said.

Corruption and crime in the country were cited by 7.3 percent of respondents polled as the reason for their emigration, the perennial arguing over World War II topics involving the Ustasha and Partisans was cited by 6.4 percent, while low salaries were cited by only 5.2 percent of the respondents.

Lack of political culture, religious intolerance and nationalism were cited by 6.2 percent of the emigrants, and the lack of any change in the country by 6.1 percent. The influence of war veterans on the society and state was cited by 4.8 percent of the respondents.

As for the emigrants’ age, most or 82 percent of those polled were under the age of 40. Two in three new emigrants are either married or live in common-law marriage (82 percent emigrated with their partner). As for respondents who have a family and who account for 50 percent of all respondents, 72 percent emigrated with their children.

New emigrants generally have qualifications that are higher than the average qualifications of the working age population in Croatia. Almost three quarters of these new emigrants, or 73.5 percent, had jobs before leaving Croatia. Out of that percentage, 42.7 percent had permanent work contracts, 23.4 percent worked on fixed-term contracts, and 7.4 percent said they were self-employed.

Among those who were employed in Croatia before moving abroad, some 40.5 percent earned less than 4,000 kuna (€542) a month, but the share of those whose income was above the national average was also high (33.2 percent). There was also a disproportionately high share of migrants from the five Slavonian counties in eastern Croatia, from the Sisak-Moslavina County in central Croatia, and the City of Zagreb.

More than 44 percent of the emigrants surveyed had high school degrees, 33 percent had a university degree, and 20.9 percent had a master’s degree.

Germany, Ireland most popular destinations, 42 percent of emigrants have no plans to return

According to the report, Croatians are emigrating the most from the Slavonian counties, from Sisak-Moslavina County and from Zagreb, and the number of those leaving the country is increasing every year.

Almost one-third of emigrants (29.6 percent) have emigrated to Germany, 20.8 percent of those polled have moved to Ireland, and around 11 percent have left for Belgium, slightly more than 10 percent have left for Sweden, and 8.5 percent for Austria. Giving their reasons for choosing those specific countries, the respondents said that those were well-organised, developed countries with a working legal system.

Only one in ten emigrants said they considered returning to Croatia within the next ten years. One in four plans to return after retiring, while most, or as many as 42 percent, said they have no plans of ever returning. The surveyed emigrants’ perception of Croatia’s future is not optimistic. Every other emigrant does not believe that the situation in Croatia will improve, only 11.5 percent said they believe it will, and 27.2 percent believed it will remain the same.

As for the quality of life in their new country, the survey reveals a relatively high degree of satisfaction among emigrants. As many as 89.4 percent said they are satisfied with their employment opportunities, and 81.3 percent reported they are satisfied with the efficiency of public administration. The new emigrants are the least satisfied with housing and accommodation in their new locations (67.1 percent) and their social life (71.3 percent).

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