TIRANA, Oct. 20 – Albania continues to be among the major contributors to the overall flow of asylum seekers into the European Union, Switzerland and Norway, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of data from Eurostat, the European Union’s statistical agency.
The overall data reveals that a record 1.3 million migrants applied for asylum in the 28 member states of the European Union, Norway and Switzerland in 2015.
According to Pew Research Center, the number of asylum seekers from Albania was 67,000 in 2015 up from 16,000 in 2014.
Data published by the European Union’s statistical agency shows that about 23,000 minors and teenagers applied for asylum in Europe last year.
Experts worry that Albania is facing a real emergency as the country’s young people are part of a massive exodus, jeopardizing the future labor market, population longevity and pension revenues.
The Pew Research Center noted that about 80 percent of Albanian asylum seekers are under 35 years of age.
In 2015, 31 percent of Albanian asylum seekers were women from 0-34 years old and the remaining 49 percent were men from the same age group.
The data show a trend of young families leaving the country as a result of economic hardships.
Children are also the one to suffer from emigration. Children and minors up to 17 years old account for 34 percent of the total number of Albanian asylum seekers. In absolute terms, about 23,000 children and teens have applied for asylum.
The percentage of unaccompanied minors among all asylum seekers to Europe rose in 2015, reaching roughly 7 percent of all asylum applicants. Between 2008 and 2015, about 70 percent to 80 percent of these unaccompanied minors annually were boys ages 14 to 17.
Meanwhile, long-term projections from Albania’s Institute of Statistics estimated a number of 100,000 to 300,000 emigrants until 2030. However, figures from Eurostat reveal that the trend became worse in the last year, exceeding the most pessimistic forecasts.
Eurostat figures show that the number of asylum seekers from Albania has increased by 439 percent. Nevertheless, the percentage includes individuals that have been registered as asylum seekers in EU countries, whereas the total number of those who have left the country for Europe and other parts of the world like North America can not be measured and most likely is higher than 67,000 people.
European Union countries, Norway and Switzerland are leading destinations for asylum seekers and other migrants alike. Prior to the 2015 surge of asylum seekers, 35 million immigrants born outside of the EU, Norway and Switzerland lived in these countries, representing fully 14% of the world’s international migrants.
During the same period 68,000 people from Kosovo applied for asylum in European Union countries, Norway and Switzerland, up from 35,000 in 2014.
The massive number of Albanian emigrants is expected to have an extraordinary impact in the country’s economy.
According to experts, the phenomenon will reduce the potential of a higher economic growth and consumption and will reduce the numbers of labor force in the small Balkan country.
