Albania is losing young people: Emigration is emptying the labor market, by 2050 the labor force will fall by 20–25%

Just a day ago, an expert from the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (wiiw ) warned in an interview with Politiko.al that "brain drain is weakening the Albanian economy."

But what is happening in Albania is no longer simply a "brain drain," but a silent and ongoing emptying of the younger generation, which is leaving behind a country with a fragile economy and a labor market in crisis.

This is because in the last decade, Albania has faced a continuous wave of emigration, where at the center of this phenomenon are mainly young people aged 18–35. For more detailed information after this alarm,  Politiko.al  asked INSTAT, while the latter responded that "  the movements of people entering and leaving the country (international migration) is the most difficult component to measure, given that Albania does not yet have a population register for statistical purposes.

In this way, INSTAT uses the best 'proxy' data for the assessment of migration, based mainly on data collected by the migration module through the labor force survey combined with the coefficients of the 2011-2031 population projections. 

In the following, INSTAT refers to its study and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) entitled "Foresight Modeling: The Impact of Migration on the Albanian Labor Force and Skills Development Needs from a Gender Perspective" , which is leaving profound consequences on the country's economy.

According to this report, young Albanians are leaving en masse, leaving behind an empty job market with a fragile economy.

Who is leaving?

According to the report, the 18–35 age group makes up the majority of Albanian emigrants, with the majority being men, but with a significant increase in the participation of women in labor migration.

"Young people constitute a significant portion of the population leaving Albania, directly impacting the structure of the labor force and the country's development potential," the report states.

The main motivation for emigration remains economic, followed by the desire for education and family reunification, while the most preferred countries are Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom.

Sectors most affected?

The report highlights that youth emigration has created large gaps in several key sectors of the economy. 

Sectors such as construction, tourism, and healthcare are most exposed to labor shortages due to youth emigration.

Specifically, construction will face a shortage of qualified labor
, tourism will face difficulties in finding seasonal and trained staff
, healthcare will face the emigration of young doctors and nurses,
and technology will face a shortage of IT and innovation professionals. 

The graphs in the report (page 24) clearly show the decline in labor market participation in these sectors, especially in rural and peripheral areas.

What awaits us if we don't change strategy?

According to the report, the working-age population is expected to fall♪7 by 20–25% by 2050, the demographic dependency ratio will increase: more elderly people for every employed person, the social security system will face great pressure due to the lack of new contributors.
“If the current migration trend continues, Albania will face a steady contraction of the active population and serious challenges to the sustainability of the social security system,” the report says. 

Thus, youth immigration is no longer a statistic, but an alarm bell that requires immediate action because if we do not take concrete steps, Albania risks remaining a country without a future.