In North Macedonia, as in other Balkan countries, a complete analysis of the impact of migration is significantly hampered by the lack of reliable and detailed data.
Depending on the educational structure and number of departures, the total education costs of people who leave North Macedonia in one year vary from €116 million to €433 million.
Due to the inability to prevent annual emigration, the potential annual gross added value loss measured around €333 million, which is around 3.1 per cent of the 2018 GDP.
The most important direct benefit of migration flows are remittances. Remittances made up around two per cent of North Macedonia’s SDP, or around €200 million, in 2018.
However, though significant, remittance cannot be a generator of economic growth, since only one per cent goes into business investment.