The number of migrations to Slovenia will increase

One of the measures announced by the Slovenian government in the event of floods in 2023 is the easier employment of foreigners. The economic construction industry of Slovenia has been employing foreigners at an accelerated rate for a long time. Floods, landslides this year and, as a result, all rehabilitation will also cause a greater demand for all construction activities.

Of course, it also depends on how the government determines who is an illegal migrant or worker and who is not. Let's leave aside all the stories about the depleted labor pool in the Balkans and the need for workers from so-called third countries or countries outside the European Union (EU). And, of course, in our estimations, whether it is even necessary to employ foreigners, or whether there is enough domestic Slovenian labor available.

With such government announcements, it is good to look at the current data on the settlements of foreign citizens of third countries in Slovenia. Workers from third countries, in addition to permitted settled migrants due to persecution and wars, need accommodation or a permanent or temporary place of residence due to the distance between home and workplace.

From 1.1. From 2023 to 31 July 2023, 9.476 permits for permanent residence in Slovenia were issued. The most permits for permanent residence in Slovenia were issued in March (1.687), June (1.532) and July (1.436).

In the same period, 50.530 permits were issued for temporary residence in Slovenia. Most of these permits for temporary residence in Slovenia were also issued in March (8.485), June (7.902) and May (7.759).

Thus, as many as 60,006 third-country nationals were newly registered permanently or temporarily in Slovenia in the period from 1. January 2023 to 31. July 2023.

According to these data, we could say that Slovenia, with its population of just over 2 million people and an area of just over 20,000 km², is able to provide accommodation for as much as 3% of the foreign population in relation to the number of its citizens within seven months. Of course, with Slovenia's ability to provide permanent or temporary residences for foreign citizens of third countries, there should also be no problems with housing our citizens who had their residences or homes destroyed in the 2023 floods.