Albania aging at twice EU’s speed, losing edge of low median age
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- The median age of the Albanian population in 2022 was 38.2 years, according to INSTAT.
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TIRANA, Feb. 27, 2023 - Albania’s population is still relatively young compared to the rest of the continent, but it is aging rapidly, at twice the EU rate, as migration and low birth rates continue to land double punches on the country’s demographics, according the latest data.
The median age of the Albanian population in 2022 was 38.2 years, according to INSTAT. It means half the country’s resident population is younger while the other half is older than that age.
The European Union has a notoriously high median age compared to the rest of the world, meaning Albania is still younger in comparison, remaining the sixth youngest compared to the EU average of median ages, which was 44.4 in Jan. 1, 2022.
It is one of the reasons that young Albanians continue to move to the European Union, where wages are higher and there is a need for young workers and professionals.
Some EU states like Germany have made legal migration for the Western Balkans easier, leading to a sharp increase in young people moving there from Albania.
But the problem is that Albania is aging far faster than the European Union average. According to Eurostat, the median age has increased by 2.5 years (an average of 0.25 years per year) from 41.9 years in 2012 for the European Union, while for Albania that has been done in just five years, according to a report by Albania’s Monitor magazine.
The youngest European states by median age are Kosovo (30 in 2020) and Turkey (32.8 in 2021).
In the last decade, Albania has recorded the highest increase in the median age of all other European countries. Second behind Albania is North Macedonia, which has aged by 4.7 years, and Portugal, by 4.7 years.
In 1994, when Eurostat reported the first data for Albania, half of the population was under 27.6 years old, while for the then European Union, the median age was 38.7 years old, with a difference of 11.1 years.
