Migration from Albania to the European Union has once again remained high over the past 10 years and is gradually surpassing the strong waves of departures seen two or three decades ago, when the country was in a much worse economic situation following the transition from a centralized to a market economy in the early 1990s and 2000s.

Over 18 years, from 2008 to 2025, EU countries issued approximately 1.1 million (1,082,224) first-time residence permits to Albanian citizens, according to Eurostat data.

For the period 2008–2016, a total of approximately 509,500 residence permits were issued. The high figure is linked to the 2008–2010 period, when around 70,000–100,000 permits were issued annually, as those who had left in the previous decade began to settle and obtain residence permits, mainly in Italy and Greece. Together, the two countries issued nearly 90% of the permits during the period—37% in Greece and 53% in Italy.

While migration appeared to be stabilizing after 2012, with the number of permits halved, another wave began after 2016 and accelerated over the past decade.

A further 573,000 permits were issued during the 2017–2025 period, surpassing the previous decade. The figures clearly show that Albanians continue to leave at higher rates, especially when calculated in relation to the population, which has now fallen to 2.3 million from 3 million in 2006.

Unlike the previous decade, when Italy and Greece were the main destinations for Albanian migrants, the geographic distribution has expanded in recent years. During the 2017–2025 period, Italy and Greece together issued 62% of all permits—41% in Italy and 21% in Greece.

Germany has emerged in recent years as a destination attracting skilled workers and issued 20% of the permits during the 2017–2025 period. In total, since 2008, Germany has issued 124,000 residence permits to Albanian citizens, ranking third. Italy remains in first place, with 500,000 permits since 2008, followed by Greece with 311,000.

Although France is the main destination for asylum seekers, it issues very few residence permits. Since 2008, approximately 28,000 people have received residence permits in France, followed by Belgium with 14,300 and Sweden with 13,000. The other countries issued fewer than 10,000 permits each.

Approximately 20,000 permits were issued by the United Kingdom during the 2008–2018 period, while data has not been reported since then.

During the past decade, the United Kingdom has been a preferred destination for Albanians, with asylum applications reaching more than 14,000 in 2022, surpassing the total number of applications in the EU, which stood at 13,200 that year.

In 2025, Germany moved into second place for residence permits

According to Eurostat, 68,653 first-time residence permits were issued to Albanian citizens in 2025, an increase of 4% compared with the previous year. This trend is the opposite of that in 2024, when the number of permits fell by 14%.

In 2025, Germany ranked second overall for residence permits, with 17,000, compared with 31,700 in Italy and 10,000 in Greece. They were followed by France with just 2,400 permits and Belgium with 1,300. The other countries issued fewer than 1,000 permits.

In 2025, according to Eurostat, 46.3% of the permits were issued for family reasons, 0.8% for education and 29.4% for employment./Monitor

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