Labour migrations, 2024

Key statistics

• In 2024, municipality Trzin had around 3.5 times as many workplaces as persons in employment and thus remained at the top among very labour-oriented municipalities;
• One in two persons in employment was a labour migrant between municipalities; 
• Osrednjeslovenska was the only statistical region with more workplaces than persons in employment living in it;
• The largest number of foreign daily migrants from neighbouring countries came from Croatia (around 5,350).

The municipality Trzin still continuous to have the largest surplus of workplaces

At the end of 2024, around 510,000 persons in employment commuted to work in another municipality, meaning that one in two persons in employment was a labour migrant between municipalities. Among 212 Slovenian municipalities, only 34 had a surplus of workplaces over the number of persons in employment living in them.

Very labour-oriented municipalities are those in which the number of workplaces is at least 16% higher than the number of persons in employment living in them, so they have a surplus of workplaces. At the end of last year, there were 19 such municipalities, which is the same as the year before. 

The municipality that particularly stood out among very labour-oriented municipalities was Trzin, which had around 3.5 times as many workplaces as persons in employment living in it. Daily (or with some other frequency) around 5,500 persons in employment commuted to work in Trzin, while around 1,320 persons in employment with residence in this municipality commuted to work in other municipalities. Trzin is the third smallest municipality, but it stands out in terms of the surplus of workplaces. Nazarje, Šempeter - Vrtojba,  Ljubljana, Murska Sobota and Odranci also had about twice as many workplaces as the number of persons in employment living in them.

Very residential municipalities are those in which the share of workplaces is below 36% of the number of persons in employment living in them, so they have a shortage of workplaces. At the end of last year, there were 29 such municipalities, one fewer than in the previous year. This category mainly includes smaller municipalities, where no municipality has more than 3,000 persons in employment with residence in it and fewer than 1,000 workplaces.

Ljubljana was the most burdened by labour migration

Labour migration usually takes place in both directions: »migration from the municipality« (persons in employment who work outside the municipality of residence) or »migration into the municipality« (persons in employment commute to work from other municipalities). How common these migrations are, depends on the population, the number of workplaces in a particular municipality and traffic connections.

The most intensive situation as regards labour migration was in Ljubljana, to where on a daily basis (or with some other frequency) almost 141,500 persons (900 fewer than a year before) commuted to work from other municipalities, while at the same time around 25,400 (almost 200 more than a year before) persons in employment with residence in Ljubljana commuted to work in other municipalities. The total flow of labour migration as regards municipality Ljubljana thus amounted to about 166,900 persons in employment; the flow into Ljubljana was five and a half times as large as in the opposite direction. In terms of the total flow of labour migrants, Ljubljana was followed by municipalities Maribor, Celje, Kranj and Domžale, which was the same situation as the year before.

Noticeable centralization of workplaces in the Osrednjeslovenska statistical region

Labour migrations between statistical regions are not as frequent as between municipalities because they cover a larger area. At the end of 2024, there were around 207,300 (or 22.5%) labour migrants between statistical regions (820 more than a year before). 

The Osrednjeslovenska statistical region was in the last eight years the only one with more workplaces than persons in employment living in it. In 2024, the surplus of workplaces in Osrednjeslovenska amounted to 32.5%, meaning there were approximately 82,400 more workplaces than persons in employment living in it. The last time any other statistical region had a surplus of workplaces was in 2016 in Obalno-kraška. After that, the labour migration index was in a downward trend, most significantly in the Primorsko-notranjska statistical region, where it decreased by 5.5 percentage points in the last seven years.



The number of cross-border labour migrants has slightly decreased

At the end of last year, there were around 6,650 foreign, cross-border labour migrants in Slovenia, which was 2.1% fewer than a year before. Foreign daily migrants are citizens of neighbouring countries (Italy, Austria, Hungary or Croatia) and work in Slovenia but do not have a registered permanent or temporary residence in Slovenia. The data show that in the last ten years, the total number of foreign daily migrants has been increasing, but in the previous year a slight decrease was recorded. Slovenia is not as interesting as a target country for work for the citizens of Austria and Hungary, the number of Italians was around 910. The largest share of foreigners who commuted daily to work in Slovenia were from Croatia (slightly more than 5,350); most of them men, women representing about a quarter.

Tables with the latest data are available in the SiStat Database.