TIRANA, August 27 – The number of foreign nationals holding residence permits in Albania reached 32,163 at the end of 2025, up 46.6% from a year earlier. Men accounted for 65% of the total, while women made up 35%.
Employment remained the main reason for residence, accounting for 55.1% of permits. Meanwhile, the number of Asian nationals recorded the strongest annual increase, rising 117.6%.
Economist Ergis Sefa said the Albanian labour market still had capacity to absorb foreign workers. However, he called for closer monitoring as their numbers had increased rapidly in recent years. Tourism and construction attracted the largest number of foreign workers, mainly for jobs requiring basic skills.
Sefa said businesses had increasingly turned to lower-paid foreign workers to contain costs. He warned that this could limit opportunities for Albanian workers seeking better wages and living standards.
At the same time, he described foreign labour as a useful solution during the transition period. In the longer term, he said Albania needed to invest in training its domestic workforce and align workers’ skills with the needs of a modern economy and better-paid jobs.
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