The numbers on migration from Kosovo are stunning.

Between 2014 and 2015, in a matter of months about 5% of Kosovo’s population left the country. At that point, Kosovars represented the 4th highest number of first time asylum claims in the EU, behind only citizens of Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq. On average over 50,000 more people leave Kosovo than arrive each year, and somewhere between 380,000 and 700,000 Kosovars live abroad.

This high rate of migration shows no sign of letting up; a recent survey indicates that almost 50% of the population is willing to move abroad.

But emigration is nothing new. In this video explainer, we provide a run-down of Kosovo’s major migration waves of the last 70 years, with a focus on the push and pull factors that have been influencing the most recent exodus over the last seven years.

This video was produced with the financial support of the European Union as part of the project “Citizens Engage”, implemented by K2.0 in partnership with GAP Institute. Its contents are the sole responsibility of Kosovo 2.0 and GAP Institute and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.