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2026-10-19 08:10:00Aktualitet SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX

Albania has a higher percentage of young people with higher education than the European Union average, leaving behind Italy, Germany and the Western Balkans.

But while we are catching up with Europe in education, we remain far behind in income and economic opportunity. The irony is that the countries we have left behind in education are among those benefiting from the departure of Albanian professionals.

Albania is one step ahead of the European Union average for the proportion of young people who have completed higher education.

According to INSTAT's 2023 Census data, 43.2% of the population aged 25–34 had completed tertiary education, compared to the 43.1% average for the European Union for the same year, according to Eurostat. This is the most recent year that INSTAT reports this indicator.

The difference is minimal, only 0.1 percentage points, but Albania ranks better than a significant portion of European countries and much higher than the economies of the region.

On paper, at least for this indicator, Albania has caught up with Europe. In practice, the Albanian labor market, wage levels, and opportunities for professional development remain far from those offered by European economies.

The most significant comparison is with Italy, one of the main destinations of Albanian emigration. In 2023, only 30.6% of young Italians aged 25–34 had completed higher education, according to Eurostat, or 12.6 percentage points less than in Albania.

Italy is among the countries with the lowest proportion of young people with higher education in Europe. However, the Italian economy continues to attract educated Albanians, who find better employment and income opportunities there.

A similar contrast is observed with Germany. In 2023, 37.9% of German youth had completed higher education, 5.3 percentage points less than in Albania.

Germany has become an important destination for the emigration of Albanian professionals in recent years, especially in the health sector, but also for information technology specialists and other qualified professions.

Albania, clearly above the region

The differences are even greater with the Western Balkan countries.

In Serbia, in 2023, 34.7% of young people aged 25–34 had completed higher education, while in North Macedonia the figure was 32.3%. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the share was only 26.6%.

For Montenegro, the data included in the comparison refers to 2020, when the indicator was 40%.

In Europe, the highest rates in 2023 were recorded in Ireland (62.7%), Cyprus (61.7%) and Luxembourg (60.2%). At the bottom of the ranking were Romania (22.5%), Bosnia and Herzegovina (26.6%) and Hungary (30.1%). Italy, with 30.6%, was also among the bottom countries.

Albania had a higher indicator than Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Croatia and Bulgaria.

Europe takes the human capital that Albania has difficulty retaining

The departure of qualified professionals has become a structural problem, especially in healthcare and professions that require specialized skills.

According to an analysis by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, previously reported by Monitor, around 23% of Albanians with higher education were living abroad in the period 2023–2024, while returns were much more limited.

While the European Union aims for at least 45% of young people aged 25–34 to have completed higher education by 2030, Albania was only 1.8 percentage points away from this target in 2023.


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