The number of foreign nationals living in the Czech Republic at the end of 2023 was 1.07 million, a decrease of more than 50,000 compared to the previous year. Around a fifth of foreign nationals in the Czech Republic are EU citizens.
As of 31 December 2023, a total of 1,065,740 foreigners were legally residing in the Czech Republic, of whom more than two-thirds (67.1%, or 714,633 people) had temporary residence. A total of 348,592 foreigners held a valid permanent residence permit. The remaining 2,515 were foreigners granted international protection (i.e., asylum or subsidiary protection). The proportion of foreigners in the country’s total population decreased from 10.3% to 9.8% compared to the previous year, said Jarmila Marešová from the Population Statistics Department of the Czech Statistical Office (ČSÚ).
Citizens of EU countries made up around a fifth (21.5%) of all foreigners in the Czech Republic in 2023. The ranking of the most represented nationalities among foreigners with residence permits has not changed significantly in recent years.
The largest groups are traditionally citizens of Ukraine, whose numbers stood at 574,447 at the end of 2023, followed by citizens of Slovakia (119,182) and Vietnam (67,783). These three nationalities accounted for 71.4% of all foreigners with residence permits in the Czech Republic in 2023. While the number of Slovakians and Vietnamese increased compared to the previous year (by 1,917 and 1,443, respectively), the number of Ukrainian nationals decreased by 61,835.
The total number of employed foreigners in the Czech Republic (including both employees and self-employed persons) reached 942,238 in 2023, meaning foreigners made up 18.6% of total employment in the economy. Both the number of foreign employees (823,945) and the number of foreign business license holders (118,383) increased by 3.9% and 6.0%, respectively, in 2023 compared to the previous year.
Against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine, the number of foreign students in all types of educational institutions in the Czech Republic has risen. In the 2022/2023 school year, there was a sharp increase compared to the previous year, especially among primary school pupils. However, in the 2023/2024 school year, the total number of foreigners in primary schools decreased significantly compared to the previous year, while the number of foreign pupils in secondary schools saw a notable increase.
To reduce the administrative burden, digitalize the residence procedure, and clarify the legal regulations regarding the residence of foreigners, the government passed a new law in August this year to regulate the entry and residence of foreigners in the Czech Republic. This law is set to come into force at the beginning of 2026.
