Emigration in Western Balkan countries is at high levels, but Albania stands out for the large outflow of people relative to its population.
In an analysis on how the Western Balkans could converge towards EU living standards, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) highlighted that high emigration is primarily driven by poor governance.
The EBRD refers to the latest Gallup poll, which indicates that Albania was among the top 10 countries worldwide where at least half of the population would want to leave the country during 2018-2021.
“Weak governance is a major driver of emigration. Current and past experience of emigration in the Western Balkans has shown that corruption or political instability is the most important reason for emigration,” the EBRD analysis points out.
Out of 13 reasons offered for emigration, 66.7 percent of respondents in the Balkans assessed corruption or political instability in their country as very important, while 19.2 percent considered it important.
The percentage of respondents choosing these two options is higher among those who emigrated in the last five years than among those who emigrated earlier. Better employment opportunities rank as the second most important reason for emigration, followed by higher wages.
Similar results emerge from a recent study by the Fiscal Council of Serbia. Their research indicates that improving institutions, including reducing corruption and strengthening the rule of law, and advancing the quality of public services such as education and healthcare, could reduce emigration levels in Western European countries by 10-15 percent, much more than the impact of increasing the average wage level.
The EBRD highlights that the next generation of experts and professionals in the Balkans and Albania may be constrained by the continuous decline in population due to negative demographic trends, especially as a larger share of those with digital skills are more likely to emigrate.
There is already much data from all regions of the EBRD, including the Western Balkans, to suggest that highly skilled workers, such as those in ICT, are migrating towards more advanced economies with higher wage levels.
The shortage of labor in the tourism sector is becoming increasingly acute and needs to be addressed with inclusive employment practices that raise participation levels and the skills of underrepresented groups (such as youth, women, and minorities), as well as increasing formal employment, the EBRD suggests.
Wages are increasing rapidly in the ICT sector (between five and 10 percent per year from 2012 to 2020 compared to less than one percent in the EU-27), reducing wage competition in the Western Balkans.
