Albania is getting older, 17% of the population aged 60-80

Albania is getting older, 17% of the population aged 60-80
“The number of senior citizens in Albania is growing every year”, the Institute of Statistics officially reports

 At the beginning of this millennium, only ten in 100 Albanians was aged 60 to 80 years old. While now, this number is seventeen, clearly indicating that our population is aging. This phenomenon is also reflected by the fact that while on 1 January 2001, thirty out of one hundred Albanians were aged 0-14 years old, today they are only eighteen over one hundred.

All of these figures speak of an aging of the Albanian population in general. Officially released by the Institute of Statistics, they show that “senior citizens in Albania present a growing trend each year”. “On 1 January 2001, age group 60-79 years old accounted for 10% of the population, on 1 January 2017, this age group accounts for 17%. The same phenomenon is noticed in the age group 80 years old and above, which only occupied 1.3% of the total population in 2001, while in 2017 it occupies 2.4%”, INSTAT report “Albania in figures” says.  This report also says that the decrease in the number of young people and the increase in the number of elderly people, meaning, the aging of the population, comes as a result of the decrease in the number of births and the increase of life expectancy.

The Institute of Statistics also says that on 1 January 2017, Albania’s population was 2.88 million, registering an increase for the first time since 2001 and compared to a year ago, population grew by 1 thousand people. “On 1 January 2017, the population of Albania was estimated to be 2.876.591, compared to 2.875.592 on 1 January 2016”, this institution reports, adding that in 2016, the number of babies that were born were 32 thousand, while the number of people that were dead was 21 thousand.

Demographic movements, Albanians are swarming to Tirana and Fier

 Besides the fact that it’s aging, many of Albania’s territories are also being “abandoned”. This is what is indicated by the recent data supplied by the Institute of Statistics, on the demographic movements on a national scale. According to these data, many districts of the country are being “emptied”, while districts such as Tirana, Fier, Durres and Elbasan are being overpopulated. With the passage of time, this has caused districts such as Gjirokastra or Kukes to be abandoned by people. In fact, this phenomenon started to take shape at the start of the ‘90s and it looks as if it’s not stopping.

But there isn’t any clear rule that applies to the demographic movement of Albanians. People are simply going where there are more jobs and a more guaranteed future. “On 1 January 2017, Tirana had over 30% of the total population, continuing to be one of the most populated districts of the country.

Tirana is followed by Fier (11.0%), Durres (10.0%) and Elbasan (10.0%)”, INSTAT quotes, adding that only three districts saw an increase of the population from 2001 until 2017, namely Tirana, Durres and Vlora. Meanwhile, all other districts saw a shrinking of the population from 2001 until 2017 and this mainly comes as a result of the internal movements, mainly heading to urban centers such as Tirana, Durres and Vlora. “District of Gjirokastra has the lowest number of population accounting for 2.3% of the total population on 1 January 2017, followed by the district of Kukes, which accounts for 2.8% of the population.” This is another fact announced by the experts of the Institute of Statistics.

Albanians continue to emigrate, number of asylum requests to the EU increase

Albanians continue to emigrate abroad and such fact is confirmed by the growing numbers of Albanian people who are seeking asylum in the European Union. This phenomenon is reconfirmed by the European Institute of Statistics (Eurostat), according to which, for the first quarter of this year, the total number of Albanians who have sought asylum for the first time in EU countries was 5440.

On the other hand, another phenomenon which is pointed out by Eurostat report is the fact that Albanians do no longer prefer Germany, but France, as a country of destination for asylum seekers. There are around three thousand Albanians who have been reported to have sought asylum in France for the first time and in this country, Albanians account for the nationality with the largest number of asylum seekers, at 13%. This country is followed by Germany and United Kingdom with 1035 and 425 Albanians who have sought asylum for the first time. Meanwhile, Albania is seventh in terms of the number of asylum seekers in EU countries, but all six countries above Albania on the list are countries in war or conflict, such as Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Nigeria and Eritrea. Albania is followed by countries such as Iran, Bangladesh, Gambia and Senegal.

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