After the 1990s, Albania was dominated by the flows of migrants, which could be considered as intense and irregular due to the combined action of the factors of economic and political impetus.
The informality has been a phenomenon very present in the Albanian migration, with a large number of Albanian migrants without documents, their number can not be estimated by the Bank of Albania. According to the United Nations data, Albania had 3.2 million inhabitants, about 1 million of its inhabitants have immigration.The number of Albanian emigrants, currently living and working abroad, is estimated at 1.15 million. About 90% of Albanian emigrants live in Europe, the rest in the US. More than 99% (1,142,748 individuals) are located in more developed regions and only 0.5% (5,396 individuals) in the least developed regions. About 93% of immigrants are located in high-income countries and only 6.8% (78,441 individuals) in middle-income countries and a fairly low percentage in low-income countries.
Albanians have migrated mainly to neighboring countries, Italy (455,468 or 40% of immigrants) and Greece (429,428 or 37%). The geographic proximity, similarities in culture and lifestyle and the creation of immigrant networks make Greece and Italy the two most desirable destinations for working and living for Albanians. While a new migration trend is moving to other parts of Europe, such as Germany, France and Britain. Greece was the country with the largest number of Albanian emigrants, by 2010.
Currently, Italy has the highest overall number of Albanian emigrants. The US is another favorite international destination, outside Europe, for Albanian emigrants. In the 1990s, migration was a common phenomenon, mainly among males, however, referring to the most recent data of 2017, gender discrepancy has decreased, standing at almost in equal levels (580,344 males and 567,800 females). The emigration of women has increased as a result of family reunification and better opportunities abroad. The women are dominant in relation to men in the US and Turkey.