The results of a survey conducted among 1,650 students shows that 79% of the Albanian students wants to leave Albania. These numbers are in line with all the other official statistics and surveys conducted in the last years, which confirms that the emigration of the younger generation continues to be a huge problem for the country. The median age of the participants in the survey was 22 years old.
The respondent indicated the poor economic, social and political life in Albania as being the main reasons behind their desire to leave the country; having bigger opportunities outside Albania is also a factor that explains their desire for emigrating. According to the survey, from the students who were willing to leave the country, 7% wants to do that before finishing their studies, 62 % wants to leave the country as soon as their finish their studies, while 27% wants to emigrate after having at least one working experience in Albania. An interesting result is the fact that 1.3% more female students want to leave the country than male students.
The intention to emigrate is bigger among the students of medicine (91.5%), nursing students (83%), engineering students (79.2%), and architecture students, since in the above-mentioned disciplines it is easier to find a job outside Albania. According to Monitor, from 2013 to 20018, 13% of the entire medical staff in Albania has emigrated. The number of the new graduating students in medicine for the moment is equal or even lower than that of the doctors who have left the country.
A report on the Albanian Diaspora published last Deember by the Albanian Institute of Statistics (INSTAT), said that 47 thousand Albanians left the country in 2019, pushing the total tally of the Albanians living abroad at 1,684,135, or 37% of the entire population. What is of particular concern for the experts is the relatively young age of the population that has emigrated, which will have long lasting effects on the economic and social life of Albania.
