We were talking about „a typical Czech“ and his behavior last time. You, foreigners living in the Czech Republic, assessed Czechs. Now it´s time to have a look at who you are: how many foreigners live here, where you are from, where you live, why you decided to stay here and maybe we find out more interesting information.

Is Czechia a good place to live?

How many foreigners do live in the Czech Republic?

Svět plný lidí

A few numbers at the beginning (all numbers were published by the Czech Statistical Office and they are valid to the date of December 31, 2015): More and more foreigners have been living in the Czech Republic. In 1993 there were 70 000 people, 278 000 in 2005, and in 2015 about 465 000 foreigners were living here. (Non-official sources consider 493 000 people at the end of 2016.)  What could it mean? That Czechia is a good place to live, for example (for the first time).

How can we interpret the number 465 000? It says that foreigners account for 4,1 % of all inhabitants in the CR. Is this a high number or not? Look at other countries. Czechia is the 20th European country from 26. Luxembourg is the first, there are 45 % of foreigners! It´s followed by Switzerland (23,8 %) and Cyprus (18,6 %). On the contrary, last three: Slovakia (1,1 %), Bulgaria (0,8 %) a Poland (0,3 %). It seems the Czech Republic still has gaps.

Where are you from?

Mapa světa

Here are the „top 6“ countries where foreigners came to CR from:

• Ukraine (105 000 – 23 %)
• Slovakia (101 000 – 22 %)
• Vietnam (57 000 – 12 %)
• Russia (34 000 – 8 %)
• Germany (20 000 – 5 %)
• Poland (20 000 – 4 %)

260 000 people from all foreigners (59 %) have permanent stay permission. It means that such a foreigner lives in Czechia for 5 years at least. About 2 000 foreigners get Czech citizenship every year but in 2014 a record was reached: 5 114. What could it mean? That Czechia is a good place to live, for example (for the second time).

A tip for you

Do you need to get permanent stay permission and to pass the Czech language exam A2? Here you can find all the necessary information about the exam in 9 languages and you can watch an instructional video.

Why did you come to the Czech Republic?

A job is the main reason. About 400 000 foreigners work here, most of them from Slovakia. But also students live here: about 42 000 young people study at a Czech university (15 % of all university students), 8 000 are at secondary schools (2 %) and 18 000 children at primary schools (2 %).

According to the international survey made by Internations.org agency Czechia is among the 10 best countries from 67 for working. What could it mean? That Czechia is a good place to live, for example (for the third time).

A tip for you

Would you like to study at a Czech university? Read how it works (in Czech, English, or German).  If you want to study for free, it means to study in Czech, you can try to apply for a Czech course with preparation for an entrance exam at many language schools.

You and the Czechs

Svatba

It seems Czechs (especially women) are attractive to foreigners. In 2015 about 3 500 foreigners-men married a Czech woman and about 1 500 foreigners-women married a Czech man. There were also about 400 marriages of both foreigners. In 2015 in Czechia 3 600 children-foreigners were born.

How do you like living in the Czech Republic?

One respondent described very nicely his/her life in CR for the website Expats.cz: „If you do integrate and you really get to know the language/culture/habits I think Czech Republic is not a bad place to live – more easy going/less organized than Germany yet still Germanized enough to keep things safe and going well comparing to many other countries.”

Foreigners also agree that Czechia is a beautiful country and it´s worth traveling (out of Prague as well).

Foreigners like some Czech customs (Czech people often wish “Good day” each other and often drink beer), consider funny some of them (taking one´s shoes off on a visit and wearing slippers at work) and they learn how to live with some of them (“Not everyone wants to eat pork, cabbage, and dumplings or become a die-hard atheist.“ www.expats.cz).

Vepřo-knedlo-zelo

Foreigners are happy about transport and health care, too. The survey by Internations.org says that the Czech Republic is the second-best country in quality of health and social services. What could it mean? That Czechia is a good place to live, for example (for the fourth time).

A tip for you

Read what typical Czech customs and behavior look like. It can help you to find the right approach to Czechs, to adapt here more quickly, and to avoid misunderstanding.

Is the Czech Republic a good place to live?

Don´t worry, I don´t make Czechs or life in Czechia ideal. I know that living abroad brings a lot of problems. And Czechs may not be the most forthcoming and friendly nation for the first sight and during the first meeting. But when they get to know them more and when you travel throughout their country you can see that living in Czechia may be quite a good choice. I wish you well.

I will be very glad if you write to me about your „Czech experience“.

And don´t remember to “discover” Czechia by traveling. Here are a few tips on where to go, what to see…

This text in Czech

18. 4. 2017