At €520mln, Remittances Reach Highest Level 10 Years

TIRANA, December 11

Remittances sent home by Albanians from January – September 2019 hit the highest level in ten years. An estimated Euro 520 million was sent by migrants to their homes in Albania, a four percent increase from the same period of 2017 according to economists at the Bank of Albania (BoA).
According to BoA’s statistics, the remittance flow during the third quarter of 2019 (Q3) was Euro 185 million or Euro 15 million more compared to Q3 2018.
Remittances sent home by Albanians working abroad declined significantly after 2008 due to migration cycles. Those who left Albania in the early 90s cut their ties with the country.
The remittance flow started to increase again in 2013 due to a growing number of Albanians leaving the country, among them highly qualified professionals such as physicians, health-care specialists, software engineers, etc.

Albania 10th in Europe for Remittance Inflows in 2018

Albania was the 10th largest remittance-receiving country in Europe in with migrant workers from the country sending home Euro 926 million in 2018, according to Eurostat. BoA reported that the average remittances in 2017-2018 were Euro 1.15 billion or around 12 percent of the country’s GDP.

Source: Monitor