Report: In 2022, the population decreased by 1.1%, about 46.5 thousand people emigrated!

Albania's population has recorded the highest decline in three years, since the pandemic period, shrinking by 1.1%, or 31.8 thousand people less. According to INSTAT, the population of Albania on January 1, 2023 is 2,761,785 inhabitants, suffering a decrease of 1.1%, compared to January 1, 2022. The decrease came as a result of the flight of a part of the population to emigration, while they returned to few people.

On the other hand, the population is not increasing naturally, as the number of deaths is almost the same as the number of births. During 2022, the natural increase of the population (births-deaths) recorded 690 more births than deaths, which is the lowest historical level, except for the pandemic period.

The number of immigrants was 46,460 people: 10.5% more, compared to 2021. There are not only runaways, as it turns out that the number of people returning to the country has also increased. The number of immigrants in 2022 was 13,963 people: 51.9% more, compared to the previous year.

According to INSTAT, net migration (the difference between immigrants and emigrants) marked a slight improvement, compared to the previous year: from -32,853 to -32,497 inhabitants in 2022. The emigration of the population, mainly at a young age, and the decline in births are bringing about an increase in the median age, which is the age that divides the population in half.

According to INSTAT, on January 1, 2023, the median age of the population is 38.8 years old, from 38.2 on January 1, 2022, which means that half of the country's population is under 38.8 years old and half is over this age./MONITOR