Young people are leaving North Macedonia — 68% want to emigrate, study finds
Economic incentives and low trust in institutions top the list; young population fell from 480,000 (2002) to 326,000 (2021).
A recent regional survey shows a strong intention among young people in North Macedonia to emigrate, driven primarily by economic motives and low trust in public institutions. According to the 2024 youth study by the Friedrich-Ebert Foundation, 68 percent of respondents aged 14 to 29 said they want to leave the country, while about 40 percent expressed a strong desire to emigrate.
Reasons: better pay, higher living standards and frustration with corruption
Researchers point to a mix of push factors. "First, these are economic factors. Young people are searching for a better standard of living, higher pay, better employment opportunities, but interestingly as negative social factors they point to corruption, clientelism and low trust in institutions," said Marija Topuzovska Latkovik from the Institute for Sociological and Political-Legal Research — Skopje. The study covered 12 countries in Southeast Europe and recorded the highest emigration inclination in North Macedonia.
Despite the widespread wish to leave, the survey found that around 40 percent of young people have not taken any concrete steps toward emigrating. Many say what they want most is a fair chance to progress at home.
"If we want to keep young people in the country, we need to provide them with a sense that we have a just and fair society where all young people will have equal and fair opportunities to get jobs, to advance in their careers, to build a career here, to form a household and a family — which would also secure a prospective and quality future for their children," Topuzovska Latkovik added.
Demographic data underline the scale of the challenge: the 2021 census showed that the number of young people in the country fell from 480,000 in 2002 to 326,000 in 2021. In a related comment about school enrolment, Minister of Education Vesna Janevska recently said that in September approximately 3,000 fewer first-graders are expected compared with the previous year, an indicator of the continuing outflow.
Photo: press material from the event
