Demographics of Albania
Population pyramid of Albania in 2020
Population	2,793,592 (2022 est.)[1]
Growth rate	0.22%
Birth rate	9.7 births/1,000 population (2021)
Death rate	10.9 deaths/1,000 population (2021 )
Fertility rate	1.32 children born/woman (2021 est.)[2]
Infant mortality rate	10.82 deaths/1,000 live births
Net migration rate	-3.23 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Age structure
0–14 years	17.6%
65 and over	13.03%
Sex ratio
Total	0.97 male(s)/female (2022 est.)
At birth	1.07 male(s)/female
Under 15	1.1 male(s)/female
65 and over	0.66 male(s)/female
Nationality
Nationality	Albanian
Major ethnic	Albanian (82.6%) (data is not considered accurate)
Minor ethnic	Greek (0.9%)
Language
Official	Albanian (98.8%)

Demographic features of the population of Albania include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects. The demography of the Albania is monitored by the Institute of Statistics of Albania. The institute has performed demographic censuses since the 1920s.^[3] The latest census in Albania was performed in April 2011, and has been deemed as unreliable both within and outside Albania.

Albania is a fairly linguistically homogeneous country with ethnic Albanians forming the majority in the country. Albania had 2,761,785 inhabitants on 1 January 2023, according to the most recent INSTAT estimate.^[4]

The first official population statistic for Albania was the 1923 census, when the country had a total of 823,000 inhabitants. Previous censuses were carried out by the Ottoman Empire, which are not yet available. A shift in administrative borders in 1913 make comparison of various periods more complicated. Maddison from 2001, estimates that in Albania about 200,000 people lived up to the year 1600, and that the population grew to 300,000 by 1700, implying an annual average growth rate of 0.4% in that period. However, population growth accelerated from the declaration of independence in 1912 to 1944 to 0.7% per year. This was due in part because Albania had the largest birth rate and the smallest death rate in Europe at the time.^[5] After the second World War, population increase policies pursued by the communist government and a large life expectancy fuelled a 2.5% annual increase for the following 45 years. The growth strained economic resources during communism in a Malthusian fashion that led to the collapse of the regime and the emigration of about 20 to 25 percent of the population in the following two decades. Albania experienced a demographic transition starting from 1960s, when crude birth rates began a slow decline, despite a government policy that called for a population increase. After the 1990s, the population showed an average decline of about 0.3% per year, caused by emigration. In the 2001 Census, the population declined to 3,023,000 from almost 3,300,000 million in 1990.

The latest census in Albania was scheduled for April 2011, and the results will be published in the following months. The permanent population of Albania at the 2011 census had fallen to 2.83 million. The population density was 98.5 inhabitants per square kilometre, and the overall life expectancy in Albania at birth was 78 years in 2011.^[6] For the first time in the history of population censuses in Albania, the population in urban areas (53.7%) was larger than the population of rural areas (46.3%).^[7] The Albanian language is the official language, but minority languages are officially used in some local government units. Albanian is declared as the native language by 98.76% of the population. The Albanian people are considered one of the most polyglot people in Europe.^[8] They generally speak more than two languages, which are mainly French, Greek, Italian, and English, which are increasing due to migration return, and new Greek and Italian communities in the country. The main religions of Albania are Islam (59%), Roman Catholicism (10%) and Eastern Orthodoxy (7%) according to the 2011 census, which has been deemed unreliable by the Council of Europe as well as other internal and external organisations and groups.

Albania has a high Human Development Index of 0.764, ranking 75th in the world in 2016.^[9] In 2016, Albania had a total population of 2,786,026, 1,361,326 being males and 1,424,700 females. 42,922 inhabitants have left Albania and in the same year the number of immigrants in the country was 25,846.^[10]

Albanian demographics are difficult to ascertain and verify due to political corruption at the local and central level as noted by the Council of Europe.^[11]

Population

With an estimated population of 2.76 million in 2023, Albania ranks 136th in the world by population. The population density is 101 inhabitants per square kilometre.^[12] The overall life expectancy in Albania at birth is 78 years.^[13] The total fertility rate of 1.70 children per mother is one of the lowest in the world. In 2016, the population of Albania was about 2.89 million, comprising 1,447 million male and 1,443 female persons.^[14] There were 38,003 live births and 20,737 deaths in Albania. The natural increase of the population was positive, as the number of births exceeded the number of deaths by 17,266. Due to external migration and low birth rate, the population declined by 18,307. The total dependency ratio of population in Albania is 46.8%.

In 2001, the number of households amounted to 726,895.^[15] The age structure was under 6 years by 10.8% and 65 years and older by 7.5%. However, the sex ratio amounted to 49.9% males and 50.1% females of the total population. Furthermore, 2,737,614 of the population was older than 6 years. In 2011, the total population was 2,831,741.^[16] The comparison of the figures shows that the population has decreased by 7.7% in about ten years. Large scale emigration and fertility decline are supposed to be the main causes of the observed population decrease. A preliminary estimate of the number of persons that refused to participate in the census is 29,355 (1.04%). This figure is based on the number of dwellings for which a refusal was recorded and is included in the total population. The total population is composed of 1,421,810 males (50.2%) and 1,409,931 females (49.8%). For the first time in the history of population censuses in the nation, the population in urban areas is larger than the population of rural areas. According to 2011 census preliminary results, 53.7 percent of the population lives in urban areas and 46.3 percent in rural areas.

The 2011 census is regarded as unreliable and inaccurate by the Council of Europe, showing incompatibility with the protection of national minorities.^[17] Also, the World Council of Churches sent letters to the United Nations Human Rights Council regarding the matter, having conducted their own questionnaire which showed major irregularities.^[18] It was the first census to include ethnicity, was struck by controversy since according to article 20 of the Census law, there is a $1,000 fine for anyone who declares anything other than what was written down on the individual's birth certificate.^[19] Some of the minorities, mainly the Greeks, boycotted the census.^[20] The religious affiliation of the population was 56.7% Muslims, 13.79% undeclared, 10.03% Catholics, 6.75% Orthodox believers, 5.49% other, 2.5% Atheists, 2.09% Bektashis and 0.14% other Christians.^[21]

According to the Institute of Statistics INSTAT, the population in 2016 was 2,886,026. Tirana County is the area with the highest population of 811,649 in the country. Fier County remains the population with the second highest population with a total of 312,488. The Counties with the lowest result are Gjirokastër, Kukës and Dibër respectively with 70,331, 84,035 and 134,153 inhabitants.^[22] About 53.4% of Albania's population live in cities. The three largest counties account for half of the population.

Almost 53.4% of the population of Albania living in cities. According to the Institute of Statistics (INSTAT), the three largest counties account for half of the population. Over 1 million people live in Tirana and Durrës, making it the largest urban area in Albania.^[23] The area of the capital Tirana, is one of largest cities in the Balkan Peninsula and ranks 7th with a population about 800,000.^[24] The second largest is the port city of Durrës, with a population of 201.110, followed by Vlorë, the largest city in southern Albania, with 141.513 inhabitants. The Institute of Statistics forecast that the population may even increase by less than a fifth from 763.560 by 2011 to 909.252 by 2031, depending on the actual birth rate and the level of net migration.^[25]

Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.

Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.

Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.

Population censuses in 1923–2011

Population by Qark/County

Total fertility rate by counties

Vital statistics

Before WWII

After WWII

^{[31][32][33][34]}

Source: Institute of Statistics (INSTAT)^[35]