 The economic fortunes of Moldova began to change in 2001; since then the country has seen a steady annual growth of between 5% and 10%.In the early 2000s, there was also a considerable growth of emigration of Moldovans looking for work (mostly illegally) in Italy, Portugal, Spain, Greece, Cyprus, Turkey, Russia and other countries.Remittances from Moldovans abroad account for almost 38% of Moldova's GDP, the second-highest percentage in the world.