The young shall flee, the old shall remain, EUROSTAT: Albania loses advantage of new population

In 2002, Albania and Turkey led Europe for the new population, but now, after two decades, the country's demographic profile has changed radically.

Eurostat's latest data referenced that the proportion of elderly addiction (65+) was 33.9% of the workforce.

In Albania, according to INSTAT data from Centi 2023, the ratio of aged labour dependence was 30.4%, much higher than 2011, when the index was 16.4%, and in 2002, only 12.3%. That means there are already about 3.2 Albanians working for every elderly man over 65, down from 8.1 in 2002.

Emptying young people has rapidly increased dependence on the elderly. For example, in the EU in 2022, the addiction of the elderly was 23.8%, while in 2024, 33.9%.

In 22 years, the elderly grew by 10.1% in the EU, while in Albania by 18 points. Now, behind Albania, there are at least 16 countries that have lower job dependence reports on the elderly.

Europeanly, Italy, Bulgaria and Portugal have the highest dependence on the elderly, by 38%, while on the other side Turkey, Luxembourg, Iceland and Ireland have lower dependence.

When the proportion of addiction of older ones increases, it means that the number of people over 65 is increasing compared to the working population.

This creates pressure on the pension system and health care, as fewer employees must support an increasing number of pensioners. It can also slow down economic growth due to a lack of labor and consumer reduction.

To cope with this situation, countries often prolong retirement age, encourage employment of the elderly, and try to attract more immigrants or promote fertility. Unless effective measures are taken, a high report on the addiction of elderly people can become a serious challenge to a country's financial and social sustainability.

Together With More Older Ones

Internal data from Centi 2023 shows that in most municipalities, the range of elderly services must be increased. For example, in the country's 19 municipalities, nearly one third, the addiction of the elderly (over 65 years old, percentaged in the age group of 1565) is over 405064%.

The municipalities of Himara, Pustec, Finic and Dropul are dependent on ages over 60%. This means that older people over 65 in these municipalities make up more than half the population.

The proportion of the average national dependence was 30%, but in at least 42 municipalities this report is higher than 30%.

Albania's population has been reduced, but it has aged by 7 years, from 2011 to 2023. Cencen's 2023 data referred to that of the 103 thousand people living alone, 62.5% were 60 years old and older (64,375 persons).

The retirement population of 65+ totaled 473 thousand people, according to Censit 2023, with a 49% increase from Censi 2011. The strongest growth in the general population was 90-year-olds.

The population group 855889 reached 26,443 people in Cesen 2023, from 14,738 in 2011, with an increase of 79%. The population structure points to two-way declines between the ages of 0 and 54, as growth starts for group ages 55 to 100.

Retired age groups have grown at a very high rate. The 80%84 age group was the second largest age group, 75%, between Censit 2011 and 2023.

The working age population has been reduced by 18% between Censit 2011 and 2023, but nearly a quarter of it is concentrated in Tirana.

The age addiction report shows how much support from the working population is provided for young people and/or older ones, measuring the relative size of these groups compared with the number of workers.

European

Age addiction reports are used to analyze the level of support the working - age population provides for young and/or old. These reports express the relative size of the new population and/or older ones compared with the working population.

According to Eurostat, on 1 January 2024, the elderly's dependence report in the EU reached 33.9%. This means that for each person over 65 years of age, there were few over three working people.

Among the EU countries, this report ranged from the minimum of 21.7% in Luxembourg and 23.6% in Ireland, where for every person over 65 years of age, there were almost 5 people at work to the maximum of 38.4% in Italy, 38.2% in Bulgaria and 38.2% in Portugal, where there were fewer than 3 working age for every person.

Over the years, between 2023 and 2024, the ratio of elderly people's dependence on the EU increased by 0.5 percentage points, exceeding from 33.4% to 2023 to 33.9% to 2024. This growth trend emerged in 25 EU countries, while the report decreased in Malta, and in Finland it remained constant./ Monitor