Economy of Kosovo

The economy of Kosovo is a transition economy. Kosovo was the poorest province of the former Yugoslavia with a modern economy established only after a series of federal development subsidies in the 1960s and the 1970s.

During the 1990s, the abolition of the province's autonomous institutions was followed by poor economic policies, international sanctions, little access to external trade and finance, and ethnic conflict. These factors severely damaged the already-weak economy. Since the declaration of independence in 2008, Kosovo's economy has grown each year, with relatively low effects from the global financial crisis. There are many weaknesses for its potential in the future, many of them related to its internationally disputed status. The last census that was not boycotted by either Serbs or Albanians took place in 1981, when it was determined that Kosovo had a population of 1.58 million, of which 209,497 were Serbs. The actual number of Albanians living in Kosovo in 2023 is between 1,162,000 and 1,325,000, and the number of Serbs will be around 90,000. In the period from 2013 to 2016, the number of economically motivated Albanian migrants from Kosovo in EU countries was 229,005, while it is estimated that the total number of Albanians from Kosovo who are emigrants in the period from 1990 to 2023 exceeds 700,000. But here are also potential strengths, including its very low level of government debt (as most of historical debts are still paid by Serbia), future liabilities, and the strength of its banking system (despite remaining obstacles to using this for productive loans).