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Emigration and aging are rapidly reducing the population of Albania.
Comparative Eurostat data show that Gjirokaster and Korca ranked among the European regions with the largest decline in natural population growth in 2021.
The natural population growth of Gjirokaster fell by 7% from January 2021 to January 2022, while in the Korca region, it was 4.3%. In the map below, regions in gold represent a decline in natural population growth of over 7%, and those in light green are the regions with the highest growth in natural population. Also, the Dibra, Kukes, and Tirana regions rank among the regions with the highest natural growth. In Albania, in addition to other factors, the natural population growth was negatively affected by the high mortality caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, where excess deaths increased by about 30%.
Between January 1, 2021, and January 1, 2022, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the population of the EU decreased by 265,257 people. This reduction is attributed to changes in the natural population (more deaths than births), as net migration remained positive (more people entered the EU than left). Furthermore, the pandemic played a role. During the same period, the population of Albania decreased by 36,000 people, with a 1.2% decline, and natural growth was negative by about 3,300 people, as the pandemic led to deaths at higher levels than births.
Of the 3,980 regions in Europe, for which data are available, 1,164 had a negative rate of natural population growth (represented by strong gold tones on the map), 173 regions recorded a positive rate, and 11 regions saw no change (the same number of births as deaths), both represented in green-blue tones on the map.
In 2021, all regions of Bulgaria, Estonia, Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Portugal, and Romania recorded negative rates of natural population change. In the cases of the Czech Republic, Italy, Poland, Slovenia, and Slovakia, almost every region recorded a negative rate with one exception each.
The most affected by population loss were all regions of Bulgaria. Conversely, every region in Ireland had positive rates of natural population change in 2021, while a relatively high number of regions in Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Austria, and Sweden also recorded positive rates. This also happened in Luxembourg and Cyprus.
According to data from INSTAT, in Albania during 2021, 27,284 babies were born, marking a decrease of 2.8% compared to the previous year. During 2021, 30,580 people died, marking an increase of 10.8% compared to 2020.