Statistics released in December by the Ministry of Labour for 3Q 2011 show that Slovakia is officially home, at least temporarily, for around 22,000 working foreigners.
Men account for almost 4/5 of the total, with approximately 17,400 foreign men working in the country, while there are just 4,500 foreigners of the fairer sex here, so you can make your own conclusions as to why (Slovaks like to boast about how beautiful their woman are, so that may be one excuse).
As can be expected, most foreigners come from the surrounding countries of Romania (4,586), Czech Republic (3,338), Poland (2,191), Hungary (2,185) and Ukraine (983), according to data release by the Ministry of Labour at the weekend.
Labour minister Jozef Mihal (SaS party) would like to make entry to Slovakia easier for certain countries with the possible cancellation of the work permit requirement for people from Afghanistan, China, Somalia, Ukraine, Vietnam and Islamic communities, for instance. This would require certain legislative changes, though, which do not have political backing at present.
According to data from the Ministry of Interior from last year, the total number of foreigners in Slovakia almost tripled in the four years of 2004-2008 from a mere 5,600 to 16,000 after the EU door swung open. Around one third of all foreigners in Slovakia live and work in the Bratislava region, where they make up about 3% of the local population.