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There are over 1 billion euros of personal transfers from around the
world that arrived in Albania in 2020, according to data reported by Eurostat. This includes most of the money that migrants send to their home country, but also employee benefits.
But which are the countries where the largest influx of personal transfers in the country comes from? "Monitor" has processed Eurostat data, according to countries. The first is Italy, the country where a large number of Albanian emigrants live and work. From Italy came to Albania 260 million euros in the form of personal transfers, or 25% of the total, staying at the same levels as a year ago.
In second place is the United Kingdom, which in recent years has become a favorite for many young people who mostly enter illegally Britain. From this country, the level of transfers in 2020 was 204 million euros or almost 20% of the total.
Greece is in third place, although it is one of the countries where most Albanian emigrants live and work. 169 million euros or about 16% of the total have come from the neighboring country. Due to land connections, a large part of transfers from Greece come informally and are not recorded in Eurostat data.
In fourth place is Germany, which has recently become a favorite for many individuals going to work under contract in Europe's largest economy. 143 million euros were sent from Germany, or almost 14% of the total, marking a record level. Compared to 2017, transfers from Germany to Albania have increased by about 43%.
About 101 million euros were sent from the United States in 2020, or almost 10% of the total. Sixth is France, a third preferred destination, especially by asylum seekers because of the numerous social policies it offers. At 36.5 million euros, 3.5% of total transfers in 2020 came from France.
Then comes Switzerland (12.5 million euros), Belgium (11.8 million euros), Canada (10.9 million euros), Austria 10.7 (million euros), while other countries receive less than 10 million euros per year. (see graph). In total, the personal transfers that residents in European Union countries and in the world sent to Albania in 2020 marked a record of 1.03 billion euros, according to Eurostat.
According to the Eurostat definition, most personal transfers consist of remittances sent by migrants to their country of origin. Although it was a pandemic year, with significant travel restrictions, in 2020 was marked the highest level of these transfers to Albania, since 2013, when Eurostat reports data for our country.