In demographic studies being carried out in the Czech Republic going all the way to the year 2100, it has emerged the country will require up to 25,000 foreigners every year to maintain its workforce. 

If immigration does not take place, the country risks a population decline and a pension funding crisis due to an ageing population.

Currently, approximately 45% of migrants in the Czech Republic come from other countries of the European Union. Slovaks make up the largest number of these, with Polish and Bulgarians 2nd and 3rd respectively.

From outside the EU, Ukrainians, Vietnamese and Russians are the largest groups of foreign residents.

The number of foreigners residing in the Czech Republic has doubled in the last 10 years to a current figure of 450,000.

Students make up 6% of them, which is also rising consistently. Of the 35,000 foreign students in the country, 67% have come from neighbouring Slovakia.

Migrant Allocation

The Czech Republic is due to take 1,500 people in its allocation of migrants coming from conflict countries into Greece and Italy. The numbers who have entered Europe so far this year are estimated at nearly a quarter of a million. Their status as refugees and right to residency is covered by the 1951 Geneva convention.