As the smallest Balkan state, with a population of 622.000, Montenegro cannot be compared to other countries in the region in terms of the number of emigrants.
The total education costs of people leaving Montenegro in one year vary from €78 millions, depending on the educational structure and number of departures.
Due to the inability to directly or indirectly prevent annual emigration through employment, annual gross value added lost measured €70 million.
The share of income from remittances and other personal transfers in GDP of five per cent ranks Montenegro among the top countries in Europe in these terms.
However, despite their significant share in GDP, remittances do not considerably impact overall economic growth, as they are used for personal consumption in households or real estate investment, while only a small amount is used for business investment.