Montenegro is currently home to 95.147 foreign citizens, whose number has doubled since the last census in 2023, when there were officially just over 46.000.
This was answered by the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MUP) to "Vijesta".
The department, headed by Danilo Šaranović, said that they had issued just over 1.500 new certificates of permanent and temporary residence by April.
They also pointed out that 23.304 foreign citizens temporarily reside and work in Montenegro.
According to the Ministry of the Interior, 9.975 foreigners have temporary residence.
"There are 32.219 foreign citizens with extended temporary residence, while 29.649 have permanent residence," they said.
According to the 2023 census conducted by the Statistical Office (Monstat), Montenegro has a population of 623.633, which is 0,6 percent more than in 2011. At that time, 46.878 foreign citizens were registered.
Almost 1.900 foreigners – four percent of them, according to the census results, came from Turkey, while there were 1.161 foreign citizens from Albania. More than 700 Belarusians found refuge in several Montenegrin cities, and 2.602 foreign citizens originated from European Union (EU) countries. More than 2.100 foreigners, according to the census, come from other countries of the world.
Šaranović's department emphasizes that "in accordance with the Law on Registers of Residence and Temporary Residence, only a Montenegrin citizen can have permanent residence in Montenegro, while a foreigner can have approved residence." Thus, slightly more than 1.500 certificates of temporary and permanent residence were issued by April.
"Having in mind the above, and considering that the issue relates to foreigners in Montenegro, we inform you that in the period from January 1 to March 28 of the current year, 870 temporary and 632 permanent residence certificates were issued."
"Vijesti" previously wrote that almost ten percent of the total number of students in primary and secondary schools, at this moment, are foreign citizens.
The Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation (MESI) said that more than 7.000 students who are foreign citizens have been enrolled in the current school year.
The department headed by Anđela Jakšić-Stojanović pointed out that the largest number of children, who are foreign citizens, are enrolled in educational institutions on the coast and in Podgorica.
"According to data from our Information System (MEIS), 2024 foreigners were enrolled in the Montenegrin education system in the 25/7.267 school year. Of that number, the majority are from Russia (2.512), Serbia (2.075), Ukraine (612), Bosnia and Herzegovina (374), Turkey (343) and Kosovo (317), "said the Ministry of Education and Science.
The census of the population, households and apartments was conducted in the period from December 3 to 30, 2023.
According to the 2011 census, there were just over 28.000 foreigners in Montenegro, or five percent of the total population.
The data showed that the largest number of them were in Tivat, Budva and Herceg Novi. 56 percent of them had Serbian citizenship. 18 percent of foreigners came from Bosnia and Herzegovina, while only five percent of foreign citizens came from Croatia.
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