As of the end of 2019, there were 13,507 foreigners in Albania with a residence permit. This figure does not take into account US citizens who can remain for one year without the need for a permit.
63% of all permit holders were men, compared to 37% being women. The number of foreign inhabitants decreased overall by 4.6% when compared to 2018.
During 2019, there were 8,241 applications for residence permits, a decrease of over 9% from 2018.
The vast majority of immigrants were from Italy, Turkey, and Kosovo with 2,753, 1,730, and 1,703 inhabitants respectively.
EU immigrants totalled 8,971 or 66.4% of the total number of foreigners. This has increased 8 percentile points on the previous year.
The main reason for coming to Albania is employment, accounting for 55% of the total.
Also in 2019, 11,890 irregular immigrants were identified in Albania. 57.4% were from Iraq and Syria. High numbers of immigrants were also noted from Morocco, Algeria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Palestine.
Some 6,557 individuals sought asylum in Albania in 2019, almost 50% higher than 2018.n 62% came from Iraq and Syria. Some 275 Palestinians also applied for asylum in the country. 80% of asylum seekers were female with just 18.7% male.
In terms of citizenship, 485 people acquired Albanian citizenship in 2019, 40% higher than the year before. In 2019, 741 lost their Albanian citizenship, 15% more than 2018.
