Eurostat: Remittances from Greece grew by 50% in 2010

TIRANA, Jan. 25 – After a drop in 2009, remittances sent by more than 600,000 Albanian migrants in crisis-hit Greece registered a surprise 50 percent increase in 2010, according to a recent report published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. Data from the report measuring workers’ remittances from the EU showed Albanian migrants in Greece sent 514 million euros home in 2010, up from 340 million euros in 2009 and 390 million euros in 2008. Albanians in neighbouring Greece are the biggest migrant community there representing around 10 percent of Greece’s total workforce but have been facing hard times since the 2008 global crisis broke out with Greece plunging into its worst economic and financial crisis which continues escalating to date.
While the report does not provide figures on remittances sent from Albanian migrants in Italy, at an estimated more than 400,000, it ranks remittances sent from Greece as one of the major corridors from an EU country. At 514 million euros in 2010, remittances sent by Albanians living and working in Greece rank the ninth biggest in a list topped by Chinese migrants in Italy at 1.8 billion euros, followed by Romanians also in Italy at 860 million euros.
Albanians are one of the ten largest groups of foreign residents of EU member states, accounting for 3.2 percent of the EU total foreign population, according to Eurostat. The EU’s statistical office ranked Albania as the sixth biggest foreign community resident in the EU 27 with around 1 million people. Among the citizens of countries outside the EU27, the largest groups were from Turkey (2.4 million or 8% of the total number of foreign citizens in the EU27), Morocco (1.8 million or 6%) and Albania (1.0 million or 3%). However, the number of Albanian residents living in the EU-27 is believed to be far bigger as more than 1 million Albanians live and work in Greece and Italy alone.
Migrant remittances, one of the main sources of income for thousands of poor families continued their downward trend even in the third quarter of this year, registering their lowest quarterly level for the past seven years as Albanian migrants face crisis effects in their host countries. Official The latest Bank of Albania data show migrant remittances during the first three quarters of 2011 dropped by a record 42 percent to 475 million Euros, compared to 999 million Euros during the same period last year. Migrant remittances in 2010 registered their lowest level of the past seven years. Central bank data show remittances dropped by 12 percent to 690 million Euros in 2010, down from 781 million Euros in 2009 and 774 million Euros in 2004 when the Bank of Albania first started reporting remittance data.
A recent study conducted by the Agenda Institute has shown around 80 percent of remittances come from neighboring Greece and Italy and 8 percent from the United States. Another 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. Experts say remittances will continue to decline because most immigrants are creating their own families abroad and often even taking their parents with them.