Albanians Around the World: The Global Diaspora by Country

Albanians are one of the most widely dispersed peoples in Europe. Of an estimated 7 to 10 million ethnic Albanians worldwide (there is no official count), only about a quarter to a third live in the Republic of Albania itself. The rest are spread across the neighboring Balkan lands where Albanians are native, and a global diaspora that reaches from Italy and Germany to the United States, Australia, and even Argentina. This guide is the starting point for a series on the Albanian diaspora: where Albanians live around the world, how many there are, and why they ended up so far from home.

The short answer: most Albanians still live in the Balkans, in Albania (2,402,113 residents in the 2023 census), Kosovo, western North Macedonia, Montenegro and southern Serbia. The largest communities abroad, by official counts, are in Germany (454,795 citizens of Kosovo or Albania at the end of 2025), Italy (414,622 Albanian citizens on 1 January 2025), Greece (374,926 Albanian citizens in the 2021 census), Switzerland (about 303,000 people with Albanian as a main language in 2024) and the United States (228,504 people reporting Albanian ancestry, ACS 5-year estimates, 2020 to 2024). Turkey may hold more people of Albanian descent than any of them, but it has no official count.

Below you will find the global picture, a country-by-country overview, the waves of migration that scattered Albanians across the map, and the surprising places, well beyond Europe, where Albanian communities took root. For what going home as a diaspora Albanian actually looks like, read our guide.

Quick Facts: Albanians Around the World

• Ethnic Albanians worldwide: no official count; published estimates range from about 7 to 10 million
• In Albania: about 2.4 million residents (2023 census)
• Albanian emigrants abroad: about 1.6 million, or 36 percent of Albanian citizens, in a 2018 INSTAT study, one of the highest diaspora shares in the world
• Largest diaspora communities: Germany, Italy, Greece, Switzerland, and the United States
• Beyond Europe: long-established communities in the US, Canada, Australia, Argentina, and Egypt

On This Page

• How Many Albanians Are There in the World?
• The Albanian Homeland in the Balkans
• The Global Diaspora, Country by Country
• Why Albanians Are So Widely Spread
• The Diaspora Beyond Europe
• Explore the Series
• Frequently Asked Questions

How Many Albanians Are There in the World?

There is no single official count of all ethnic Albanians, because they live across many countries that count population in different ways. Published estimates range from about 7 to 10 million ethnic Albanians worldwide. Of these, about 2.4 million live in Albania (2023 census), several million more in the neighboring Balkan lands that are historically Albanian, and roughly 2 million or more across the wider global diaspora. A 2018 study by Albania’s statistics agency (INSTAT), Diaspora e Shqipërisë në Shifra, estimated that about 1.6 million Albanians had emigrated, about 36 percent of Albanian citizens, which places Albania among the top countries in the world for the size of its diaspora relative to its population.

The Albanian Homeland in the Balkans

Before the global diaspora, there is the homeland. Albanians are native not only to Albania but to a contiguous region of the western Balkans:

• Albania, about 2.4 million residents in the 2023 census, an Albanian-majority country with Albanian as the official language.
• Kosovo, about 1.6 million in the 2024 census, about 91 percent Albanian. See Is Kosovo Albanian?
• North Macedonia, 446,245 Albanians in the 2021 census, about a quarter of the resident population.
• Montenegro, roughly 30,000, concentrated near the Albanian border.
• Serbia (the Preševo Valley) and Greece (Çamëria in the northwest), smaller native Albanian populations.

These homeland regions are not diaspora; they are lands where Albanians have lived for centuries. For more on origins, see where Albanian people are from.

The Global Diaspora, Country by Country

Outside the Balkan homeland, Albanians have built communities across Europe and beyond. The figures below are the latest official counts where one exists, and they measure different things: citizenship, country of birth, language or self-reported ancestry. None counts every person of Albanian origin, so each is a floor rather than a total.

Figures from national statistics offices, as cited on each country guide. Because each country counts differently, the numbers are not directly comparable.

Why Albanians Are So Widely Spread

The Albanian diaspora is the product of several distinct waves of migration:

• Ottoman era: Over centuries of Ottoman rule, Albanians spread throughout the empire, including large numbers who settled in Turkey and Egypt.
• The Arbëreshë: In the 15th and 16th centuries, Albanians fleeing the Ottoman conquest settled in southern Italy, forming the Arbëresh communities whose descendants later reached the Americas.
• Early 20th century: Economic migrants left for the United States and elsewhere, building the first Albanian-American communities. See our three waves of Albanian immigration.
• The fall of communism (1990s): When Albania opened after decades of isolation, hundreds of thousands emigrated, above all to Italy and Greece.
• The Kosovo War (1998 to 1999): Conflict drove a large wave of Kosovo Albanians into Germany, Switzerland, and other Western countries.

The Diaspora Beyond Europe

The Albanian story is not only a European one. Long-established communities exist far from the Balkans:

• United States and Canada: Home to hundreds of thousands of Albanian Americans and Canadians, with deep roots in New York, Michigan, and Toronto.
• Australia: One of the oldest overseas Albanian communities, with pioneer roots in the 1920s around Shepparton, Victoria.
• Argentina: A community mostly of Arbëresh descent whose ancestors reached South America by way of Italy between the 1890s and the 1930s.
• Egypt: Home to a historically important Albanian presence, most famously the dynasty founded by Muhammad Ali, an Albanian who ruled Egypt in the 19th century.

Explore the Series: Every Country

This is the hub for our Albanians Around the World series. Below is every guide, grouped by region. Each covers the local Albanian population, its history, and where the community lives, and most include an interactive map.

The Homeland and the Native Balkans

• Kosovo, the Albanian-majority homeland
• Albanians in North Macedonia, about 446,000, a quarter of the country
• Albanians in Montenegro, a native community around Ulcinj
• Albanians in Serbia, the Presevo Valley

Western and Central Europe

• Albanians in Germany, the largest diaspora community
• Albanians in Switzerland, about 303,000 Albanian speakers
• Albanians in Italy, about 415,000 Albanian citizens plus the ancient Arbereshe
• Albanians in Greece, about 375,000 Albanian citizens, the largest immigrant group
• Albanians in the United Kingdom, about 100,000
• Albanians in Austria, mostly from Kosovo and North Macedonia
• Albanians in France, a mostly recent, Kosovar community
• Albanians in Belgium, centered on Brussels
• Albanians in the Netherlands, in the Randstad cities

The Nordic Countries

• Albanians in Sweden, led by Skåne, Stockholm, and Gothenburg
• Albanians in Norway, centered on Oslo, Akershus, and Østfold
• Albanians in Denmark, around Copenhagen
• Albanians in Finland, a Kosovar community since the 1990s

The Americas and Oceania

• Albanians in the United States, the largest overseas community
• Albanians in Canada, 41,620, mostly in Ontario
• Albanians in Australia, with 1920s pioneer roots in Shepparton
• Albanians in Argentina, Arbereshe who came by way of Italy
• Albanians in Brazil, a small South American community
• Albanians in New Zealand, one of the smallest, begun in 1951

Turkey and the Historical Diaspora

• Albanians in Turkey, no official count, estimates start at about 1.3 million
• Albanians in Egypt, the dynasty of Muhammad Ali
• Albanians in Croatia, the historic Arbanasi of Zadar

Frequently Asked Questions

How many Albanians are there in the world?

There is no official count; published estimates range from about 7 to 10 million ethnic Albanians worldwide. About 2.4 million live in Albania (2023 census), several million more in the neighboring Balkan lands, and roughly 2 million or more across the global diaspora.

Which country has the most Albanians outside the Balkans?

By official counts, Germany has the largest: 454,795 citizens of Kosovo or Albania at the end of 2025, followed by Italy (414,622 Albanian citizens in January 2025). Greece, which borders Albania, counted 374,926 Albanian citizens in 2021, and Switzerland and the United States follow. Turkey may have more people of Albanian descent than any of them, but it records no ethnicity, so there is no official figure.

Are there Albanians in South America?

Yes. Argentina has a community of Albanian descent for which there is no official count, most of them descendants of Arbëreshë (Italo-Albanians) who emigrated from southern Italy in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Why is the Albanian diaspora so large?

Centuries of Ottoman-era movement, the 15th-century Arbëresh migration to Italy, early 20th-century economic emigration, and two major modern waves, after the fall of communism in the 1990s and the Kosovo War, together spread Albanians across the world.

Sources

• INSTAT, the Albanian Institute of Statistics: study “Diaspora e Shqipërisë në Shifra” (2018), about 1.6 million emigrants, and the 2023 census
• Destatis (Germany), ISTAT (Italy), ELSTAT (Greece), the Swiss Federal Statistical Office, the Office for National Statistics (England and Wales), Statistics Canada and the Australian Bureau of Statistics, for the country figures, as cited on each country guide in this series
• U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (Table B04006), for the United States figure: data.census.gov
• The national census and statistics agencies of each country, for the individual population figures
• Wikipedia overviews of the Albanians and the Albanian diaspora, which compile these figures

Related Reading

• Albanian Population in the United States
• Where Are Albanian People From?
• Is Kosovo Albanian?
• Three Waves of Albanian Immigration

Author: Val Demiri

Valbona is an editor and writer at ALB Connection, where she covers the people, businesses, and culture shaping the Albanian diaspora. A journalism graduate of the University of Iowa, her work spans community profiles, success stories, and features on Albanian life across the US, Europe, and beyond. She is drawn to stories that celebrate Albanian achievement and keep the community connected across borders.