Albanians working abroad are sending home less money each month.
TIRANA, March 22 – While watchers of the Albanian economy have known for years that after record remittances following massive immigration the level would slowly go down, when the economic crisis hit the world, the level of remittances fell much faster than predicted. And the worst may be yet to come.
Albanians working abroad sent home far less money in 2009, with total remittances falling to 799 million euros, a record low level in the last five years, according to the latest data published by the Bank of Albania.
Reflecting the global economic crisis in countries where Albanian emigrants reside and a general trend of declining remittances, Albanian workers abroad brought home 54 million euros less than in 2008 and 173 million less than in 2007, according to the central bank’s data.
The economic crisis is the main cause of decline in remittances, as Albanian workers abroad have had to deal with rising unemployment and a deteriorating economy in the host countries. Greece and Italy, where the vast majority of Albanian emigrants reside, have been feeling the pitch harder than many other countries.
The trend in remittances has been negative for quite a while. In the second quarter of last year, remittances were down by only 4.4 percent, while in the fourth quarter, the decline was 7.3 percent compared with a year ago.
Things are not likely to get better, since the data doesn’t include the latest bad news from Greece and its own particularly bad crisis, which has shut down a lot of jobs for immigrants and has brought a decrease in total wages.
With other income indicators also in negative territory, remittances are lifeline for Albania’s economy, with many families being dependent on them for daily consumption.
Data from the International Organization for Migration estimates that about 39 percent of Albanian immigrants send money to their relatives once in six months, while 19 percent once in three months.
These indicators prove that this aid has significant impact on increasing the welfare of recipients of remittances, but also for society as a whole. Deliveries are more frequent in rural areas.
The percentage of GDP filled by remittances has gone down to 9.6 percent from 12.3 percent last year.
About 69,000 Albanian emigrants also returned home to stay in 2008, according to Albanian authorities. The total estimated number of Albanian immigrants who have not permanently severed ties with Albania is 900,000, about one third of the country’s population.
