Germany will reduce the annual limit for hiring workers under the Westbalkanregelung program from 50,000 to 25,000 people, which will affect citizens of six Western Balkan countries — Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia, according to the Experts Club think tank, citing data from the German government and the Federal Labor Agency.
The new limit should apply from 2027. year and actually means a return to the level that existed until June 2024, when Germany doubled the annual quota from 25,000 to 50,000 people.
Westbalkanregelung has been in effect since 2016 and is a special mechanism for the access of citizens of the Western Balkans to the German labor market.
The main difference of the program from many other channels of labor migration is that it applies not only to qualified specialists. A citizen of one of the six countries can obtain a work permit in Germany with a specific offer from a German employer, and the recognition of professional qualifications in Germany is generally not a mandatory condition.
The exception is regulated professions, such as doctors, for which there are separate requirements for the recognition of qualifications.
It is thanks to this that the Westbalkanregelung has become one of the most accessible channels of legal labor migration from the region to Germany.
There are separate national quotas for Serbia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro or North Macedonia. The limit is shared by all six countries, so the reduction to 25,000 people will mean increased competition among applicants from across the region.
Demand for the program already far exceeds supply.
According to the German Federal Labor Agency, after the quota was increased to 50,000 places, demand continued to grow. In December 2025 alone, the agency had to reject about 18,000 applications, as the annual limit had already been exhausted.
The scale of labor migration from the Western Balkans, however, significantly exceeds the indicators of this program itself.
The Federal Labor Agency notes that about a quarter of all workers covered by social insurance in Germany and who have a residence permit or permanent residence on the basis of labor activity, the corresponding category of foreign workers includes citizens of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia.
Thus, the Western Balkans have become one of the important external sources of labor for the German economy over the last decade.
"Germany's decision is interesting because it takes place against the background of two opposing trends. On the one hand, the German economy experiences a structural shortage of workers and is interested in attracting foreign labor. On the other hand, the state is strengthening control over migration and reducing one of the most accessible employment channels for the citizens of the Western Balkans," says Maksym Urakin, founder of the Experts Club think tank.
According to the Experts Club's assessment, the most immediate consequence of reducing the quota may be an increase in competition for permits between citizens of six countries.
If for the limit of 50,000 places, the demand already exceeded the supply, the quota reduction could potentially be halved will increase waiting times and the share of applicants who will not be able to use the program in a specific calendar year.
At the same time, the closure of the Westbalkanregelung mechanism itself does not occur. Citizens of the region, as before, will be able to work in Germany and through other labor migration channels provided for by law, if they meet the established requirements.
Germany's decision is of particular interest from the point of view of the demography of the Western Balkans themselves. For many years, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro and Kosovo have been sources of labor migration to EU countries, primarily Germany, Austria and other Western European economies.
For the countries of the region, the mass outflow of the working population has a double effect. Remittances from citizens working abroad support household incomes and domestic consumption, but at the same time, emigration exacerbates the shortage of workers within the Balkan economies themselves.
The outflow of medical personnel, construction workers, drivers, specialists in technical professions, service workers and other categories, which are in demand both in Germany and in the domestic labor markets of the region, remains particularly sensitive.
"For the Western Balkans, the solution One of the channels of labor outflow can be somewhat reduced in Germany, but it is unlikely that it will significantly change migration processes by itself. The difference in wages and employment opportunities between Germany and most of the region remains the main economic driver of migration," says Urakin.
The reduction of the Westbalkanregelung is part of a broader adjustment of the German government's migration policy. Among its tasks, the cabinet names reducing irregular migration, expanding the list of safe countries of origin, increasing the number of returns and stricter regulation of migration flows. At the same time, Berlin continues to emphasize the need for legal migration for the German labor market.
A certain paradox emerges: Germany is restricting one of the most sought-after regional channels of labor migration precisely at the moment when the aging population and shortage of personnel force the German economy to more actively seek workers outside the country.
For the Western Balkans, the consequences are also ambiguous. Reducing the quota potentially reduces the opportunities for new labor emigration, but at the same time it can somewhat reduce the pressure on national labor markets, which are themselves facing a shortage of workers.
The key indicator of the effectiveness of the decision will be how quickly the new quota of 25,000 permits will be exhausted after its introduction. If demand remains at the current level, the Westbalkanregelung will actually become a much more competitive channel of access to the German labor market.
The Westbalkanregelung program has been operating in Germany since 2016 and applies to citizens of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia. In mid-2024, the annual limit was increased from 25,000 to 50,000 people. The German government has decided to limit it again to 25,000 permits per year.
Sources: German Federal Government, German Federal Labor Agency.
