Eurozone crisis forces 133,000 migrants to return home, survey shows

Affected by crisis in Italy and Greece where around 1 million Albanian migrants live and work, migrant remittances have almost halved in the past seven years due to the crisis in these two host countries which are also Albania’s top trade partners.
TIRANA, Oct. 8 – The Eurozone crisis in the past five years, especially in top trade partners Italy and Greece where more than one million Albanian migrants live and work, has brought back to Albania around 10 percent of migrants there, a study carried by Albania’s state statistical institute, INSTAT, and the International Organization for Migration has found.
The survey shows some 133,544 adult Albanian migrants have returned home in the 2009-2013 period, 71 percent of whom from neighbouring and 24 percent from Italy due to the crisis in these two host countries.
The number of returnees is almost the same to the 2001-2011 period when 139.827 Albanians returned home, says INSTAT.
“The main reasons for the return of immigrants included loss of job in the country of immigration, melancholy and longing for the family and the country, as well as problems faced by the family left behind in Albania. Other reasons for return included better job opportunities in Albania, investment plans and health-related issues,” said the survey.
Immigration was one of the major reasons for the decline in Albania’s population between 2001 and 2011 when 481,000 Albanians left the country.
The latest census showed Albania’s resident population shrank by 8 percent to 2.82 million people in 2011 compared to a decade ago.
Some 47 percent of Albanian migrants are reported to live in Italy, followed by Greece with 43 percent of Albanian emigrants. The United States follows as a distant third country of destination.
Albania’s top two trade partners Italy and Greece continued registering negative growth rates in the first two quarters of this year and are expected to overcome their recession period by next year.
The two neighbouring countries account for around 50 percent of Albania’s trade exchange, being the top investors in Albania and the overwhelming source of migrant remittances.
Eurostat data show Greece shrank by 3.9 percent in 2013 while the Italian economy was down by 1.9 percent.
Italy, the destination of more than 50 percent of Albanian exports, registered a 2.4 percent shrink in 2012, after modest positive growth rates in 2010 and 2011 and recession in 2008 and 2009.
Meanwhile, Greece, which currently remains top foreign investor and Albania’ second most important trade partner, has been in its worst ever recession since 2008.
Shrink in remittances
The shrink in remittances provides a clearer picture of the difficult situation Albanian migrants are facing in their host Eurozone countries. Migrant remittances, a vital source of income for thousands of families in Albania, have considerably dropped during the past five years affecting the beneficiaries’ consumption and private investments.
Affected by crisis in Italy and Greece where around 1 million Albanian migrants live and work, migrant remittances have almost halved in the past seven years due to the crisis in these two host countries which are also Albania’s top trade partners.
Bank of Albania data show migrant remittances hit a record low of 497 million euros in 2013, down from 675 million euros in 2012 and a historic high of 952 million euros in 2007 just before the outbreak of the global financial crisis. At only 497 million euros, migrant remittances registered a record low for the past decade.
On a falling trend since the 2008, the sharp cut in migrant remittances has also influenced on the slowdown of the Albanian economy in the past five years. The cut in remittances has also influenced on the crisis in the still ailing construction sector.
A study carried out by the Bank of Albania has found that remittances, one of the main sources of income for thousands of families in Albania, are very sensitive to the economic activity in the Eurozone, where most Albanian immigrants live and work. Remittances also constitute a critical driver of Albania’s domestic demand. Estimates suggest that for the overall economy (excluding agriculture) a 10 percent decline in remittances would lead to a 3.6 percent reduction in domestic demand, as provided by the index of sales. The sectors affected the most by remittances are construction, services and food, which are also the key contributors to Albania’s GDP. It is believed that the sharp contraction in construction has partly been a result of declining inflows from workers abroad.
In addition to crisis impacts, experts say remittances will continue to decline because most immigrants are creating their own families abroad and often even taking their parents with them.