Economic crisis impact on Remittances and Migration level in Albania

Abstract

Remittances of international migrants as the second largest flow of incomes contribute to the well-being of their households of origin and also have an impact at macro-economic level. Out-migration is an effective means for low-income households to quickly overcome shortages of income. The sustenance of poor households might have been more difficult without such remittances. From a macro perspective, remittances contribute to the equalization of the income distribution among households having out-migrants. Remittances have enforced the Albanian economy since 1992 especially they had a positive and large contribution in consumption level, investment and GDP. But the economic crisis of 2008 has affected large sectors of the population in developed and developing nations and international immigrants have not been the exception because there have been an economic downturn. Remittances in Albania represent the second main source of incomes and this study documents the recent slowdown in workers’ remittances, the money that international immigrants send back home. Current data indicates that remittance flows have slowed for all regions of the globe. This paper tries to analyze the impact of the economic crisis on remittances level and also the negative impact of their slowdown in the Albanian economy.