Migration and demographic change in Albania

This study of interactions between rural-to-urban and international migration and fertility aims to increase understanding of the transformations in population structures and geography in the completion phase of demographic transition, with particular emphasis on urban areas. The Albanian case reveals how the early development of international migrant networks and the concentration of returnees in cities triggered urban-ward movements during the post-communist crisis. Despite subsequent economic growth, the diffusion down the urban hierarchy of the opportunities to emigrate progressively redirected the rural exodus abroad. Migration also mattered for fertility decline through the transformation of the larger social context rather than through its impact on women who have either experienced or been directly exposed to mobility, which was shaped by patriarchal institutions. Direct, indirect and induced effects of migration flows inflated the role of natural increase in Albania's urban growth and ensured the demographic reproduction of the fast aging urban population