The Croatian islands have many difficulties that resemble the general problems of rural and remote regions, which include rapid urbanization, deagrarianization, and falling birth rates, but there are also some specific national causes and explanations. Despite this, demographic trends in Croatia are generally treated as a marginal problem, even though they, directly and indirectly, generate economic and social problems that are difficult to overcome: demographic aging, labour market bottlenecks, problems of caring for elderly persons, lack ofsustainability in health and social security systems, and reduced economic growth. In this article, we examine previous studies on why people leave remote and rural areas. The research questions are: (RQ1) What do we know about why people leave rural and remote regions? (RQ2) What are the main drivers for leaving rural and remote regions? For this, we use theoretical perspectives on migration and previous empirical findings. We find that there are many lessons learned from international experiences that also can be applied on the Croatian islands, for example, migration due to education and labour market possibilities. When it comes to access to amenities and higher quality of life, these are advantages for the Croatian islands and may be used as comparative advantages.