RETURN MIGRATION IN ALBANIA: THE PROFILES OF RETURNEES

For many decades, since the fall of communism in the early 1990s, Albania has been a mass emigration country. According to INSTAT, 864.485 Albanians left the country between 1989 and 2005, which represents almost 28% of the total population. Recently, return migration has emerged as a central issue in Albania, especially after the Greek economic crisis (one of the most important destination countries of Albanian emigrants) and the improvement of the socio-economic and political situation of the country. In fact, INSTAT data demonstrate hat returns have been on the rise every year since 2001, and in particular after 2008. This paper provides an overview of return migration in Albania by profiling returnees. Data will be drawn from a national survey undertaken by the Albanian Institute of Statistics (INSTAT) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in 2013. This survey represents the first effort to quantify and characterise return migration to Albania over the last years, asking about respondents’ situation before and during migration and after their return. The paper shed light on the heterogeneity of returnees’ socio-economic and demographic characteristics, and their main return decisions.