Tirana expands with towers, but the population increased by only 1.7 thousand inhabitants in 2024

2025-09-22 20:01:44Biznes SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
Tirana

Year after year, the capital is losing its role as a center of gravity for the population of other regions. The population growth rates in Tirana are falling year after year, while brain drain is increasing.

On January 1, 2025, the population of Tirana district reached 759,981 inhabitants, or 1,766 more than on January 1, 2024. This increase is far from the addition of almost 18 thousand new inhabitants in 2015.

While Tirana's population growth is slowing down, construction on the other hand has experienced an unusual increase.

In 2024, the area of ??construction permits reached a record level of over 1.9 million square meters. This is the highest area ever granted for construction in the capital, at least since 2005, when INSTAT reports data for Tirana.

Even during the first half of this year, the National Council of Territory and Water (KKTU) has granted numerous permits for towers and complexes in Tirana, which have not yet been reflected in the official data of INSTAT. The latter has only reported permits and data from the Municipality, which approves low-rise constructions.

KKTU decisions, tourism encourages high-rise buildings on the coast, towers are also added around Tirana

As Tirana expands to the outskirts with villa complexes and residential complexes in the center, high-rise towers are being built. Data shows that the volume of construction is moving in the opposite direction to population growth. In recent years, emigration from the capital to abroad has increased due to higher living costs. More and more educated people are leaving Tirana for careers in other countries and for better education for their children.

The population of Albania on January 1, 2025 shrank by over 27 thousand people compared to January 1, 2024. The decline was strong in regions such as Elbasan, Korça, Lezha and Dibra, which have shrunk by thousands of inhabitants within a year. Vlora has also continued the downward trend, going from 145 thousand inhabitants in 2024 to around 144 thousand this year.

The strongest decline was recorded in the Elbasan region, where the population dropped from over 231 thousand to 226 thousand, while Korça lost over 3 thousand inhabitants. Kukës and Gjirokastra also show a shrinking trend.

In contrast to this trend, Tirana has registered a negligible increase, this change of less than 2 thousand inhabitants leaves the population of the capital almost unchanged, despite the fact that new construction has increased significantly in recent years.

Real estate experts claim that a factor that has encouraged purchases in the capital remains immigrants, or foreigners, who buy for investment purposes. / Taken from Monitor


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