The decline in births in Albania / What is happening in the counties of Vlorë, Gjirokastër and Kukës?

Albania is facing the phenomenon of childhood

es than the births of three decades, but in some counties the decline is much sharper than the national average.

The official INSTAT data show that in the first 6 months of the year, births on a national scale fell by 5.1%, but for the counties of Vlora, Gjirokastra and Kukës, the contraction was 2-3 times greater.

Vlora recorded the biggest drop in babies born in the first 6 months, about 16% less than in the same period a year ago. In this district in the first half of 2024, only 468 babies were born out of 556 that were born in 2023 in the same period.

After Vlora, the biggest drop in births was in the Gjirokastra District with about 14%. In this district in January-June 2024, 144 babies were born out of 167 that were born in the first 6 months of 2023.

The district of Kukës was ranked third for the high rate of decline in births with 2024. In January-June, 318 babies were born in this district with a 9.4% decrease compared to the first 6 months.

Also, the drop in births above the national average was also present in the districts of Lezha, Berat, Shkodra and Durrës.

While in Tirana, Elbasan, Fier and Korça, births fell by less than 5%.

Korça County had the lowest drop in births with only -2.3, followed by Fieri with -3.7%.

Fertility rates have fallen steadily over these three decades, but in the last two years, they have accelerated, signaling a worsening of the phenomenon in the coming years.

In 2023, just 22,210 babies were born across the country, the lowest level since 1934 when official annual data was reported.

Demographers and sociologists are concerned that births in Albania have fallen beyond all predictions.

The pessimistic scenario for population progress until 2060 developed by INSTAT predicted that in 2023, 27,281 babies would be born, but in reality about 20% less are being born.

The 2019-2031 population projections from INSTAT did not take into consideration the high immigration rates and the decline in fertility, so the demographic indicators have had a higher deterioration compared to all scenarios.

Experts claim that the policy is too late to implement a set of measures, which should focus on curbing immigration and identifying tools that can help young couples have children./ MONITOR