In 2006, 14,978 persons moved to Croatia, while 7,692 moved out of the country, according to population migration figures released by the Central Bureau of Statistics on Friday.
Most immigrants came from Bosnia and Herzegovina (62.3%), while the majority of emigrants moved to Serbia and Montenegro (37.8%), Bosnia and Herzegovina (16.9%) and Austria (14%).
Broken down by gender, men prevailed among immigrants (54.4%), while women marginally prevailed among emigrants (50.1%).
Croatian citizens made up 93.1% of all immigrants, while 6.9% were foreigner nationals, as well as 90.6% of all emigrants, while 4.3% were not Croatian citizens.
The majority of immigrants moved to Zagreb (17.6%) and Split-Dalmatia County (14%).
Zagreb also accounted for the highest number of emigrants (14.8%), followed by Osijek-Baranja County (11.2%) and Sisak-Moslavina County (9.6%).
Women prevailed among people who changed their residence within Croatia last year, making up 54.7% of the 80,757 people who did so. The majority in this category were in the 20-39 age group (47.5%).
Croatia registered the largest number of immigrants in 1997 and 1998, more than 50,000 a year, while figures have been declining since 1999. 1997 and 1998 also saw higher numbers of emigrants, with figures falling since 2003 - a little over 6,000 a year. The number of emigrants went up last year, a total of 7,692 people, about 1,680 more than in 2005.