Demographics of Albania

Demographics of Albania
Population2,402,113 (2023 census)[1]
Growth rate0.22%
Birth rate9.7 births/1,000 population (2021)
Death rate10.9 deaths/1,000 population (2021 )
Fertility rate1.32 children born/woman (2021 est.)[2]
Infant mortality rate10.82 deaths/1,000 live births
Net migration rate-3.23 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Age structure
0–14 years17.6%
65 and over13.03%
Sex ratio
Total0.97 male(s)/female (2022 est.)
At birth1.07 male(s)/female
Under 151.1 male(s)/female
65 and over0.66 male(s)/female
Nationality
NationalityAlbanian
Major ethnicAlbanian (91.0%)
Minor ethnicGreek (0.98%)
Language
OfficialAlbanian

Demographic features of the population of Albania include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects. The demography of Albania is monitored by the Institute of Statistics of Albania. The institute has performed demographic censuses since the 1920s.[3] The latest census in Albania was performed in September 2023.[1]

Albania is a fairly ethnically and linguistically homogeneous country, with ethnic Albanians forming 91% of the total population in the country. The total population residing in Albania in September 2023 was 2,402,113 according to the most recent INSTAT census.

The first official population statistic for Albania was the 1923 census, when the country had a total of 823,000 inhabitants. Previous censuses were carried out by the Ottoman Empire, which are not yet available. A shift in administrative borders in 1913 make comparison of various periods more complicated. Maddison from 2001, estimates that in Albania about 200,000 people lived up to the year 1600, and that the population grew to 300,000 by 1700, implying an annual average growth rate of 0.4% in that period. However, population growth accelerated from the declaration of independence in 1912 to 1944 to 0.7% per year. This was due in part because Albania had the largest birth rate and the smallest death rate in Europe at the time.[4] After the second World War, population increase policies pursued by the communist government and a large life expectancy fuelled a 2.5% annual increase for the following 45 years. The growth strained economic resources during communism in a Malthusian fashion that led to the collapse of the regime and the emigration of about 20 to 25 percent of the population in the following two decades. Albania experienced a demographic transition starting from 1960s, when crude birth rates began a slow decline, despite a government policy that called for a population increase. After the 1990s, the population showed an average decline of about 0.3% per year, caused by emigration. In the 2001 Census, the population declined to 3,023,000 from almost 3,300,000 million in 1990.

The permanent population of Albania at the 2023 census had decreased of 420,000 people compared to the 2011 census. The population density in 2023 was 84 inhabitants per square kilometre. The overall life expectancy in Albania at birth was 78 years in 2011.[5] In 2011, for the first time in the history of population censuses in Albania, the population in urban areas (53.7%) was larger than the population of rural areas (46.3%).[6] The Albanian language is the official language, but minority languages are officially used in some local government units. Albanian is declared as the native language by 98.76% of the population. The Albanian people are considered one of the most polyglot people in Europe.[7] They generally speak more than two languages, which are mainly French, Greek, Italian, and English, which are increasing due to migration return, and new Greek and Italian communities in the country. The main religions of Albania are Islam (50.67%), Christianity (16%) of which Roman Catholicism (8.38%), Eastern Orthodoxy (7.22%) and Evangelicism (0.4%), other religions (0.15%), Believers without denomination (13.83%) and Atheists (3.55%) according to the 2023 census. There were also those who preferred not to answer (10.17%),

The main ethnic groups in Albania are Albanians (91%), Greeks (1%), Egyptians (0.5%), Romani people (0.4%), Bulgarians (0.3%), as well as Bosniaks, Aromanians, Macedonians, Serbs and Montenegrins.

Albania has a high Human Development Index of 0.764, ranking 75th in the world in 2016.[8] In 2016, Albania had a total population of 2,786,026, 1,361,326 being males and 1,424,700 females. 42,922 inhabitants have left Albania and in the same year the number of immigrants in the country was 25,846.[9]

Albanian demographics are difficult to ascertain and verify due to political corruption at the local and central level as noted by the Council of Europe.[10]

  1. ^ a b "Population and Housing Census 2023" (PDF). Instituti i Statistikës (INSTAT).
  2. ^ http://www.instat.gov.al/media/9544/demographic-indicators-q4-2020.pdf Archived 10 November 2022 at the Wayback Machine [bare URL PDF]
  3. ^ "Background". instat.gov.al. Archived from the original on 14 July 2017. Retrieved 11 July 2017. The first statistical office was opened in 1924. It used to work out economic data on the Ministry of Public Affairs and Agriculture.
  4. ^ "Albania - history - geography". Britannica.com. Archived from the original on 16 October 2014. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  5. ^ "Dendësia e Popullsisë Population Density" (PDF). instat.gov.al. p. 21. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 3 July 2017. Population Densitiy; number of persons per km2
  6. ^ "POPULATION AND HOUSING CENSUS IN ALBANIA" (PDF). instat.gov.al. p. 16. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 3 July 2017. For the first time in the history of population censuses in Albania, the population in urban areas is larger than the population of rural areas. According to 2011 census preliminary results, 53.7% of the population lives in urban areas and 46.3% in rural areas.
  7. ^ Gloyer, Gillian (2008). Albania: the Bradt travel guide (3rd ed.). Chalfont St. Peter: Bradt Travel Guides. p. 44. ISBN 9781841622460.
  8. ^ "Human Development Report 2016" (PDF). hdr.undp.org. p. 237. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 May 2020. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
  9. ^ "Population of Albania" (PDF). instat.gov.al. Tirana. 19 February 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 October 2017. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
  10. ^ "Ministers' Deputies". Archived from the original on 23 July 2021. Retrieved 18 November 2020.