Emigrants’ Remittances from Germany, UK Increase
In recent years, Albanians are emigrating especially to Great Britain and Germany.
It is precisely from these two countries that the largest amount of emigrants' money is sent to Albania. While Italy continues to top the ranking of inbound shipments, Greece's share appears to have declined over the past decade, now ranking fourth.
According to data from Eurostat, transfers or personal remittances to Albania in 2021 reached EUR 1.14 billion, an increase of 10% compared to the previous year.
Economy expert and journalist, Gjergji Erebara, says that sending money from immigrants will last for another decade.
"It is the new cycle of emigration that started in 2015-2016, where Albanians are leaving for more distant and richer countries and continuously. We no longer have only the parent who ran away hoping to earn some money and build a house in Albania. But now we have whole families, people with women and children all fleeing together. Remittances are ultimately a form of retirement. When the national pension scheme has failed and gives ridiculous pensions, the children who go to emigration are forced to supplement this Albanian pension with an additional income for their parents. Remittances from immigrants I believe will last for 1 decade. The moment the parents pass away, and this is a natural cycle, children who are immigrants no longer have ties to the country and no longer bring income. Greece ranks 4th after Italy, Britain and Germany, as this country has gone through a very big crisis and is no longer as rich as these others. Secondly, the immigrants who went to Greece are from the first generation of Albanians. They have already been in Greece for 30 years and consequently have lost contact with Albania. They no longer have living parents in Albania to send them a pension", - says the economic expert, Gjergji Erebara.