STA, 15 December 2019 - There were 250,000 immigrants in Slovenia at the start of 2018, or 12.1% of the country's population, national statisticians said before International Migrants Day, which is observed on 18 December.
The figure puts Slovenia 16th on the list of EU countries by share of immigrants; Luxembourg leads with 46.5% and Poland is at the bottom with 1.8%.
Statistics Office data also shows that Slovenia is quite generous with granting immigrants citizenship.
Related: Foreign Nationals in Slovenia, by Country, Region & Continent
Demographic indicators – population born abroad by the period of immigration, Slovenia, 1 January 2018
Migration indicators – population born abroad by the period of immigration, Slovenia, 1 January 2018
Alongside Croatia, Sweden and the Netherlands, it is one of the four EU countries with the largest share of immigrants having its citizenship.
The share stands at 55%, while it is as high as 94% among those who migrated to Slovenia when the country was still part of former Yugoslavia, before June 1991.
This is because migrations between Yugoslav republics were considered internal migrations, so it was easier to gain citizenship after Slovenia's independence.
Consequently, around 170,000 people were granted Slovenian citizenship in the first eight months after independence.
However, the figure for the past decade is much lower, at 15,000; of these new Slovenian citizens, 70% still originate from the area of former Yugoslavia.
Among the immigrants who came to Slovenia in the past decade, between 2008 and 2017, 6% already had Slovenian citizenship, with over 3% receiving it after immigrating.
These immigrants have come to Slovenia from as many as 163 countries.
Related: The Places Foreigners Live in Slovenia and Where They Come From
Socioeconomic characteristics – population born abroad by the period of immigration, Slovenia, 1 January 2018
Living conditions – population born abroad by the period of immigration, Slovenia, 1 January 2018
Although Bosnia and Herzegovina is the source country of 43% of these immigrants, immigration from Kosovo has seen the steepest rise, doubling compared to pre-2007.
An average immigrant who moved to Slovenia between 2008 and 2017 is a man from Bosnia aged 30 to 39 with a permanent residence permit.
He lives on his own (without family) in one of Slovenia's eleven urban municipalities, has a job and vocational education.
Their education is slightly lower than that of those who immigrated here before 2007, and one in two works in the manufacturing or construction industry.
More details can be found at SURS
