Migration changes, Slovenia, 2019

Positive net migration

In 2019, 31,319 people immigrated to Slovenia and 15,106 emigrated from it. Compared to 2018, the number of immigrants was 10% higher, and the number of emigrants 12% higher. Net migration in 2019 was the highest since 2008: 16,213 more residents more immigrated to the country than emigrated from it.

For the twentieth consecutive year negative net migration of citizens of Slovenia was recorded: in 2019, 2,839 citizens of Slovenia more left the country than returned to it. On the other hand, net migration of foreign nationals was positive for the twenty-first year in a row: in 2019, 19,052 more of them immigrated to Slovenia than emigrated from it.


Most Slovenian citizens immigrated from Germany, most foreigners from Bosnia and Herzegovina

The most common countries of previous residence for immigrants with Slovenian citizenship in 2019 were Germany and Austria (22% and 17% respectively), followed by Croatia, the United Kingdom, Italy and Switzerland.

Most foreign immigrants in 2019 came from Bosnia and Herzegovina (one half of all foreign immigrants); some other common countries of previous residence were Serbia, Kosovo, North Macedonia and Croatia.


Most Slovenian citizens to Austria, most foreigners to Bosnia and Herzegovina

In 2019, a quarter (25%) of emigrants with Slovenian citizenship left for Austria; some other common countries of next residence were Germany (18%), Switzerland and Croatia.

Among foreign emigrants, the most common country of next residence was Bosnia and Herzegovina (28%), followed by Serbia (14%), Germany (11%) and Croatia (9%).

Data on socioeconomic characteristics of international migrants will be published on 18 December 2020.


Non-registration of emigration

The continuous relatively high number of emigrants is partly due to administrative de-registrations of residence for persons who actually emigrated years ago. Such de-registrations of residence accounted for about 5% of all emigrations in 2019.


5% more internal migrations than in 2018

In 2019, 98,793 internal migrations (i.e. changes of residence within a country) were registered by 91,669 internal migrants (6,718 residents changed their settlement of residence more than once). The number of migrations decreased by 5% compared to 2018.
 
The majority of residents who changed their settlement of residence in 2019 (80%) moved to another municipality; one in five moved to another settlement within the same municipality. Most changes of residence were made by Slovenian citizens (81,000 changes), while foreign citizens recorded nearly 17,800 changes of residence. One half of internal migrants were 20–39 years old.

In 2019, 4.4% of Slovenian population changed their settlement of residence at least once. Compared to citizens of Slovenia, foreign citizens are a more mobile population group: one in ten foreign citizens changed the settlement of residence at least once, while among Slovenian citizens one in twenty-five did so.

In 2019 another 42,947 changes of residence by 41,336 residents were recorded within settlements; statistically these are not counted as migrations. Within Ljubljana 13,944 residents changed their residence at least once, and within Maribor 5,936 residents did so.


New in the SiStat database

The SiStat database contains the series of data on migration. The data series is completed with data for 2019. The latest data on international and internal migration, migration change and total increase are now available. A lot of data are available for several territorial levels.