Workforce Migration Report 2026: Kosovo

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Prizren at night, the old town along the Bistrica river
Workforce Migration Report 2026
Kosovo
5,087
Residence permits for work issued in 2025, the national count

Contents

In brief

A valley in Kosovo

The country

  1. 3

    1.58 million people, 11.8 percent fewer than in 2015

  2. 4

    In 2023, 28,754 more people left Kosovo than arrived

 Prishtina from the air

Where the market is now

  1. 5

    Residence permits for work have nearly doubled since 2019

  2. 6

    Kosovo's rate is below most of its neighbours'

  3. 7

    In 2023 citizens of Türkiye and Bangladesh had the largest shares

  4. 8

    Citizens of Bangladesh received 722 permits in 2023

  5. 9

    A law applied in full, 53,000 fewer people aged 15 to 64

 Tower cranes

The outlook

  1. 10

    About 6,600 permits in 2026, between 4,080 and 10,000

  2. 11

    The drivers, and first EU residence permits for citizens of Kosovo

  3. 11

    What could change this

 The cathedral in Prishtina

Method and sources

  1. 12

    How to read this report

  2. 12

    Sources, photographs and flags

Cover: Prizren at night, the old town along the Bistrica river. Photograph by Miralem Misini, Pexels.

Kosovo granted 5,087 residence permits for work in 2025, a provisional count with renewals, nearly twice the 2,704 of 2019, and 3,271 in the first half of 2026. Since 15 March 2026 the Law on Foreigners applies in full. The rate is 5.3 permits for every 1,000 residents aged 20 to 64, below Albania's 9.9 and North Macedonia's 8.2. In 2025, EU countries issued 43,747 first residence permits to citizens of Kosovo, for any reason. Our estimate is about 6,600 permits in 2026, between 4,080 and 10,000; with 3,271 granted by 30 June, the low end assumes a near stop in the second half. For 2027 the direction is rising, the range too wide for a yearly number. The central line, on stated assumptions, carries the recent rise, slowing, to 8,010 a year in 2031.

Observed

Residence permits for work in 2025, provisional, up 19.6 percent on 2024

5,087
Observed

Residence permits for work, first half of 2026, 64 percent of 2025

3,271
Our estimate

Permits in 2026, our estimate, between 4,080 and 10,000; 3,271 granted by 30 June

6,600
Projection of the source

Fewer people aged 15 to 64 in 2041 than in 2026

53,000

1.58 million people, 11.8 percent fewer than in 2015

Kosovo has 1,576,876 people, 211,398 fewer than in 2015. Births still outnumber deaths, but more people leave than arrive, most of them for the EU, which has let citizens of Kosovo travel without a visa since 2024. The economy grew 3.6 percent in 2025, faster than the EU, yet output per head is 7,899 US dollars, 55 percent of the world average.

Prizren from above

People living in Kosovo in 2025, mid year

1,576,876

11.8 percent fewer than in 2015. People aged 65 and over were 10.5 percent of the population in 2025.

GDP in 2025, billion US dollars at current prices

12.5

At current prices and exchange rates.

GDP per head in 2025

7,899dollars

55 percent of the world average of 14,406 US dollars.

Real growth in 2025

3.6%

Against 1.4 percent across the EU. Over 2021 to 2025 the economy grew 30.2 percent in all, the EU 13.7 percent (our estimate from the yearly rates).

People aged 15 to 64 in work, 2024

38.6%

Men 55.9 percent, women 21.2 percent. Up from 30.1 percent in 2019.

Visa freedom and full rules

1 January 2024Citizens of Kosovo travel to the Schengen area without a visa.
15 March 2026The Law on Foreigners applies in full: no work without a permit.

Sources: World Bank, World Development Indicators (population, GDP, GDP per head and growth); Kosovo Agency of Statistics, Labour Force Survey 2024 (employment); retrieved 27 September 2026. Population is the mid year estimate. Key dates: Regulation (EU) 2023/850, Official Journal L 110 of 25 April 2023; Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kosovo, notice of 16 January 2026; retrieved 27 September 2026.

In 2023, 28,754 more people left Kosovo than arrived

Births still outnumber deaths, but more than twice as many people leave as that gap adds

In 2023, the latest year the UN estimates (later years are its projection), births minus deaths came to +10,426 and net migration to −28,754.

Births minus deathsNet migration
−40,000−20,0000+20,0002019202020212022202320242025Births minus deathsNet migration+12,372−28,829+6,770+2,815+9,439−38,584+11,298−28,588+10,426−28,754+9,373−22,178−18,380

Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (net migration and crude birth and death rates from UN World Population Prospects 2024, whose estimates end in 2023; later years are its projection), retrieved 27 September 2026. Births minus deaths is our arithmetic on the crude rates. Not yet published: births minus deaths for 2025.

About 1.57 million people by 2041 on the World Bank's projection

Estimated to 2025, then the World Bank's projection in the lighter line.

1.5 million1.6 million1.7 million1.8 million1.9 millionWorld Bank projection1.79 million in 20151.58 million in 20251.57 million in 2041201520202025203120362041

Source: World Bank, SP.POP.TOTL (World Development Indicators); World Bank, population projection based on UN World Population Prospects 2024; retrieved 27 September 2026.

The share aged 65 and over rises to 18%

0 to 1415 to 6465 and over
2025, observed20.0%69.5%10.5%2041, the World Bank's projection15.9%66.3%17.8%

Source: World Bank, population estimates and projections, retrieved 27 September 2026.

12.5 billion US dollars in 2025, and the IMF forecast to 2031

Billion US dollars, 2025 pricesIMF forecast
7.51012.51517.512.5 in 202515.6 in 203120174.8%20194.8%202110.7%20234.1%20253.6%20273.8%20294.0%20314.0%

Real growth under each year. Sources: World Bank, NY.GDP.MKTP.CD; IMF, World Economic Outlook April 2026; Werklist calculation; retrieved 27 September 2026.

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What this report answers

  • How many residence permits for work has Kosovo granted each year since 2019?

    5,087 residence permits for work in 2025, a provisional count with renewals, nearly twice the 2,704 of 2019, and 3,271 in the first half of 2026. The count has grown by at least 16 percent every year since 2021.

  • Which countries do the new hires come from, and which are growing?

    In 2023, the latest year with a split, citizens of Türkiye received 1,004 permits (27.5%) and citizens of Bangladesh 722, up from 47 in 2022. Serbia, Albania and North Macedonia held 30.6% together, less each year since 2021.

  • How does Kosovo compare with its neighbours per resident?

    5.3 residence permits for work for every 1,000 residents aged 20 to 64 in 2025, twice its 2.6 of 2019: below Albania's 9.9, North Macedonia's 8.2 and Serbia's 6.3, above Bosnia and Herzegovina's 3.6.

  • Which rules apply to employers who hire from abroad?

    Since 15 March 2026 the Law on Foreigners applies in full: no work without a permit. The employer may file the application, the ministry decides within 30 days, and a permit lasts as long as the contract, at most one year. The minimum wage is 500 euros a month since 1 July 2026.

  • How is the working age population changing?

    The World Bank projects 1,096,017 people aged 15 to 64 in 2026 and 1,042,998 in 2041: about 53,000 fewer, a fall of 4.8 percent.

  • How many residence permits for work do we expect Kosovo to grant in 2026, and what comes after?

    About 6,600 in 2026, between 4,080 and 10,000, with 3,271 granted by 30 June. For 2027 the range is too wide for a yearly number; the direction is rising. The central line, on stated assumptions, carries the recent rise, slowing, to 8,010 a year in 2031; held flat, the count stays at 6,600.

The full report answers each question with its figures, charts and sources. Request the full report