TIRANA, Dec. 26 – According to the Institute of Statistics (INSTAT), the outflow of Albanian citizens increased by 11.4 percent during November compared to the same period in 2018, surpassing the 9 percent average annual rate. While the high rate of outflows is usual for November due to the Independence Day celebrations, the panic caused by the earthquake proved to be a major drive in the increase of nationals travelling abroad. Simultaneously, inflows of both Albanian and foreign citizens increased by 8,7 percent compared to 2018, with a total of 268.176 citizens.
In total, the number of Albanian and foreign nationals who left the country in November 2019 amounted to 787,359, increasing by 19.2 percent compared to the same period a year earlier. The number of foreigners who left Albania during November 2019 was 307,183, increasing by 34.0 percent compared to November 2018. During the eleven-month period, being among the countries with the highest inflows of citizens to Albania, Switzerland witnessed the highest increase, precisely by 19.7 percent, while inflows from Poland decreased significantly (14 percent).
The number of foreign citizen arrivals in Albania during the eleven-month period in 2019 was 6,117,330, up by 8.3 percent compared to the same period in 2018. In November 2019, Spain was the country with the most outflows to Albania, while North Macedonia witnessed a sharp decline.
