January has seen an increase in both the number of foreigners who have entered Albania and the outflow of Albanians abroad.

According to INSTAT, the number of Albanian and foreign nationals entering the Albanian territory in January 2020 is 693,956.

Compared to January 2019, this indicator results in an increase of 20.9%. In January 2020, the number of foreign nationals entering the country is 249,461. Compared to January 2019, this number has increased by 19.1%.

In January 2020, among the countries with the highest inflows of citizens to Albania, Poland had the highest increase by 38.9%, though starting from a small base (550 Poles in total) while having the most significant decrease. Switzerland by 1.2%, compared to January 2019. Polish inflows had declined in 2019.

In absolute terms, the highest increase was recorded by citizens of Kosovo, who make up 31% of total inflows. However, about 78,000 people from Kosovo entered Albania in January.

In second place are the entries by Greek citizens, with about 39 thousand in, or 15.5% of the total.

Citizens from Macedonia accounted for 15.2% of total incomes in January, or about 38,000.

Following are nationals from Mali ii, Italy, England, USA.

About 93% of foreign nationals' incomes were for personal reasons, such as relatives, visiting relatives, etc; 3% for professional reasons and 4.6% for transit reasons.

Foreign nationals for business and professional reasons increased significantly in January, by 53.1% compared to the same period a year earlier.

Outflows of Albanian and foreign nationals during January 2020 totaled 842,694, up by 21.5% compared to the same period a year earlier. The number of Albanian citizens leaving the territory of Albania during January 2020 is 531.065. Compared to January 2019, this number has increased 17.0%. The number of foreigners leaving the territory of Albania during January 2020 is 311,629. Compared to January 2019, this number has increased 29.9%.

Source: Monitor