Emigration Shows No Sign of Stopping: Over 1 Million Residence Permits for Albanians in the EU

Emigration of Albanians to the European Union continues at a rapid pace, surpassing even the strong waves of departures of previous decades.

Eurostat data shows that from 2008 to 2025, EU countries issued over 1 million and 82 thousand first-time residence permits to Albanian citizens.

Around 510 thousand permits were issued in the period 2008–2016, while in the last nine years the figure reached 573 thousand, surpassing the previous decade.

Initially, Italy and Greece were the main destinations, but in recent years the map of emigration has expanded. Germany is gaining more and more weight, particularly in attracting qualified labor.

In total, since 2008, Italy has issued around 500 thousand residence permits, Greece 311 thousand and Germany 124 thousand. In 2025 alone, over 68 thousand new permits were issued, 4% more than a year earlier. Germany overtook Greece for the first time, with around 17 thousand permits, after Italy with 31.7 thousand.

Most permits in 2025, around 46%, were issued for family reasons, while 29% for employment.