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While 2018 can be considered as the best year for tourism in Albania, the Albanians themselves have preferred to spend their money outside the country.
According to statistics published by the Bank of Albania, the expenditures of Albanians abroad in 2018 amounted to 1.42 billion euros, increased by 13% compared to the previous year. This is the highest recorded level of expenditures abroad since the '90s.On the other side the foreigners have brought more money to Albania in their travels. According to the Bank of Albania, the foreigners visiting the country, spent 1.86 billion euros in 2018, a record level of 8.8% in annual basis.
The net balance remains positive for Albania, with 430 million euros, which is the difference between the money that the tourists brought to Albania and the Albanians spent abroad.
But as the expenses of Albanians abroad grew at higher rates than the inflow of foreign incomes, the net balance grew 3.4% compared to the previous year. This is the first time in the last five years that the travel balance deteriorates, as since 2013 marked a significant improvement.
Movements of Albanians and Foreigners
According to other INSTAT data, Albania is visited by 5.93 million foreigners in 2018, an increase of about 16% compared to the previous year. 97% of them came for tourism and visiting their relatives and the rest for business, health care, religious purposes, or transit.
More than a third of the tourists who came to Albania in 2018 were from Kosovo, with 35% of the total. Then rank the Macedonians with 11.4%, Greeks (9.3%), Italians (7.3%), Montenegrins (6%).
Last year there was a significant increase of tourists from Poland by 35%, but still accounted for only 2.5% of the total number of foreigners who visited our country.
Even in the other direction, that of the exit of Albanians from the country, the figures have recorded a record in 2018. Altogether 5.4 million exits of Albanian citizens are recorded, an increase of 4.4% compared to the previous year.
Since 2010, Albanians have had the opportunity to move visa-free to Europe, but since 2013 it has been seen that outbound trips have been more frequent, a period that coincides with the growth of asylum applications in the EU, culminating in 2016, with about 69 thousand claims, while during the years 2011-2018, the applications for asylum were in total about 190 thousand.