Determinants of non-performing loans in North Macedonia

2.3. Demography and labor market conditions in RNM
The RNM is not attractive for immigrant workers and generally, it depends on its own population to 
drive potential growth. On the contrary, the population has a tendency to relocate to developed 
countries. It has been estimated that nearly 20% of university degree holders had immigrated 
abroad by 2005 (Janeska et al., 
2016
). The rather constant increase in immigration projects issues 
such as a future lack of innovative thinkers, slower research and development across industries, 
and a scarcity of educators for future generations all of which negatively affect economic growth 
and prosperity (Janeska et al., 
2016
; Lozanoska & Dzambaska, 
2015
).
According to the State Statistical Office, the last census conducted in the country was in 2002. 
Ever since, information about the active population has been made based on estimates and 
derived from various sources. With a monthly average net wage of around 390€, qualified labor 
tends to search for employment abroad. EU countries generally require employment permits or 
work visas for non-EU residents, thus securing citizenship and identification documents from some 
of the neighboring EU member states is an easier immigration path. Bulgarian citizenship and 
passports are being issued to RNM citizens for the sole purpose of smoother EU immigration. It has 
been estimated that around 100,000 passports had been issued by the end of 2006 with numbers 
growing ever since (Neofotistos, 
2009
). With respect to statistical records, dual citizenship is not 
a record that is kept by the State Statistical Office or any other institution in the country. Thus, 
information about migration is generally considered inaccurate since people that emigrate out of 
the country do so with dual citizenship documents, usually Bulgarian. Additionally, they are 
recorded as Bulgarians in any other statistical records for population movement purposes.
Last, but not least, Bucevska (
2010
), by examining the migration tendencies of EU candidate 
countries to Germany, determined that migration flows to Germany depict constant increases from 
the RNM, while Petrevski et al. (
2016
) determined the average period between graduation and first 
employment is around 25 months, with employment being the main migration motivator.