
More than 1 million Albanians suffer from a severe form of poverty, according to the latest INSTAT data that measured income and living standards in 2023.
Since 2018, INSTAT measures poverty in accordance with Eurostat's methodology through the indicator "At-Risk of Poverty or Social Exclusion (AROPE)" which refers to individuals who are at risk of being poor, or deeply materially and socially deprived, or who live in households with very low employment intensity.
According to the latest results, Albania had 42.1% suffering from a severe form of poverty. If we consider that according to the 2023 Census data, the country's population was 2.4 million inhabitants and over 1 million Albanians are experiencing one of the severe forms of poverty.
All 1 million Albanians live in families that cannot cope with at least seven out of thirteen categories of deprivation (6 categories related to deprivation at the individual level and 7 categories related to deprivation at the family level).
At the family level, difficulties are considered:
Delays in loan or rent payments for the main residence, expenses for basic services, installment purchases or other payments on loans taken out;
Inability to afford the costs of a one-week annual vacation away from home;
Inability to afford an unforeseen financial expense of 30,000 new lek;
Inability to afford a meal with meat, chicken, fish (or the equivalent for vegetarians) once every two days;
The financial inability of the family to keep the house adequately warm;
The financial inability to have a car for personal use;
Replacing old furniture with new ones
An individual may be considered in difficulty if he/she does not have:
Ability to have an internet connection;
Replacing old clothes with some new ones;
Having two pairs of shoes that fit properly (including one pair of shoes for all seasons);
Spending a small amount of money each week on oneself;
Ability to have regular leisure activities;
Meeting friends/family for a drink/meal at least once a month.
According to Eurostat, Albania has the highest percentage of the population at risk of poverty and material deprivation in Europe.
The indicators for Albania, according to Eurostat, are significantly higher compared to other neighboring countries of the Western Balkans, where Montenegro has 34.1% of the population at risk of poverty, North Macedonia 32.6%, Serbia 30%, while there is no data for Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo.
Eurostat data for European Union countries show that in 2023, about 21.4% of the European population or 94.6 million inhabitants were at risk of poverty or social exclusion./ monitor