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Albanians work 41 hours a week, but one hour of work produces only 995 lek

Politiko 2026-06-06 16:12:47

Albanians work 41 hours a week, but one hour of work produces only 995 lek

Despite the economic growth of recent years, labor productivity in Albania continues to lag behind the standards of developed countries. Data processed from official statistics show that during 2024 the Albanian economy generated an average of about 995 lekë for every hour of work, or approximately 10 euros, reports SCAN Intel.

The country's economy produced over 2.5 trillion lek last year, while about 1.2 million employees worked an average of 41.3 hours per week. When these indicators are combined according to the labor productivity formula, it turns out that every hour worked in Albania creates less than 1 thousand lek of economic value.

But the difference becomes even more apparent when Albania is compared to the world's strongest economies. According to OECD data, our country produces only 17.6 international dollars per hour worked, several times less than the average of the organization's countries, which amounts to 71 dollars.

At the top of the list is Ireland with $151 per hour of work, followed by Norway with $132 and Luxembourg with $125. Even large economies such as the United States and Germany register much higher levels, at $97 and $88 per hour of work, respectively.

Experts attribute this difference to the structure of the Albanian economy, which relies mainly on services, trade and lower value-added sectors. Meanwhile, countries with higher productivity invest more in technology, automation, advanced industry and capital-intensive activities.

In practice, this means that Albanians work long hours, but the economy manages to generate significantly less value for each hour of work compared to more developed countries.

 

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