Albania

Broadband - fixed subscriptions

total: 508,937 (2020 est.) subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 18 (2020 est.)

Broadcast media

Albania has more than 65 TV stations, including several that broadcast nationally; Albanian TV broadcasts are also available to Albanian-speaking populations in neighboring countries; many viewers have access to Italian and Greek TV broadcasts via terrestrial reception; Albania's TV stations have begun a government-mandated conversion from analog to digital broadcast; the government has pledged to provide analog-to-digital converters to low-income families affected by this decision; cable TV service is available; 2 public radio networks and roughly 78 private radio stations; several international broadcasters are available (2019)

Internet country code

.al

Internet users

total: 2.291 million (2021 est.) percent of population: 79% (2021 est.)

Telecommunication systems

general assessment: Albania s small telecom market has experienced some significant changes in recent years; upgrades were made to the fixed-line infrastructure to support broadband services; fixed-line telephony use and penetration in Albania is declining steadily as subscribers migrate to mobile solutions; the mobile sector is well provided with LTE networks, while operators have invested in 5G; some of these efforts have been made in conjunction with neighboring Kosovo, with the intention of a seamless 5G corridor along the highway connecting the two countries; the country has long sought accession to the European Union (EU) which has benefited its telecoms sector through closer scrutiny of its regulatory regime and through the injection of funding to help modernize infrastructure (2021) domestic: fixed-line approximately 7 per 100, teledensity continues to decline due to heavy use of mobile-cellular telephone services; mobile-cellular telephone use is widespread and generally effective, 92 per 100 for mobile-cellular (2021) international: country code - 355; submarine cables for the Adria 1 and Italy-Albania provide connectivity to Italy, Croatia, and Greece; a combination submarine cable and land fiber-optic system, provides additional connectivity to Bulgaria, Macedonia, and Turkey; international traffic carried by fiber-optic cable and, when necessary, by microwave radio relay from the Tirana exchange to Italy and Greece (2019)

Telephones - fixed lines

total subscriptions: 177,000 (2022 est.) subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 6 (2022 est.)

Telephones - mobile cellular

total subscriptions: 2.782 million (2022 est.) subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 98 (2022 est.)

Agricultural products

milk, maize, tomatoes, potatoes, watermelons, wheat, grapes, olives, cucumbers/gherkins, onions (2022) note: top ten agricultural products based on tonnage

Budget

revenues: $5.319 billion (2021 est.) expenditures: $4.4 billion (2021 est.) note: central government revenues (excluding grants) and expenses converted to US dollars at average official exchange rate for year indicated

Credit ratings

Moody's rating: B1 (2021) Standard & Poors rating: B+ (2020) note: The year refers to the year in which the current credit rating was first obtained.

Current account balance

-$202.323 million (2023 est.) -$1.117 billion (2022 est.) -$1.37 billion (2021 est.) note: balance of payments - net trade and primary/secondary income in current dollars

Debt - external

$4.624 billion (2022 est.) note: present value of external debt in current US dollars

Economic overview

upper-middle -income Balkan economy; EU accession candidate; growth bolstered by tourism, services, construction, and private consumption; fiscal consolidation through revenue collection to address public debt; challenges include weak governance, corruption, climate adaptation, vulnerability to energy sector shocks, and emigration of workers

Exchange rates

leke (ALL) per US dollar - 100.645 (2023 est.) 113.042 (2022 est.) 103.52 (2021 est.) 108.65 (2020 est.) 109.851 (2019 est.)

Exports

$9.178 billion (2023 est.) $7.057 billion (2022 est.) $5.612 billion (2021 est.) note: balance of payments - exports of goods and services in current dollars

Exports - commodities

garments, footwear, iron alloys, electricity, crude petroleum (2022) note: top five export commodities based on value in dollars

Exports - partners

Italy 41%, Greece 10%, Spain 7%, Germany 5%, China 4% (2022) note: top five export partners based on percentage share of exports

GDP (official exchange rate)

$22.978 billion (2023 est.) note: data in current dollars at official exchange rate

GDP - composition, by end use

household consumption: 75.5% (2023 est.) government consumption: 11.1% (2023 est.) investment in fixed capital: 24.4% (2023 est.) investment in inventories: 0.5% (2021 est.) exports of goods and services: 39.6% (2023 est.) imports of goods and services: -44.9% (2023 est.) note: figures may not total 100% due to rounding or gaps in data collection

GDP - composition, by sector of origin

agriculture: 18.3% (2023 est.) industry: 21.2% (2023 est.) services: 48% (2023 est.) note: figures may not total 100% due to non-allocated consumption not captured in sector-reported data

Gini Index coefficient - distribution of family income

29.4 (2020 est.) note: index (0-100) of income distribution; higher values represent greater inequality

Household income or consumption by percentage share

lowest 10%: 3.4% (2020 est.) highest 10%: 22.8% (2020 est.) note: % share of income accruing to lowest and highest 10% of population

Imports

$10.373 billion (2023 est.) $9.016 billion (2022 est.) $8.004 billion (2021 est.) note: balance of payments - imports of goods and services in current dollars

Imports - commodities

refined petroleum, garments, electricity, cars, raw iron bars (2022) note: top five import commodities based on value in dollars

Imports - partners

Italy 25%, Turkey 14%, Greece 12%, China 10%, Germany 5% (2022) note: top five import partners based on percentage share of imports

Industrial production growth rate

4.03% (2023 est.) note: annual % change in industrial value added based on constant local currency

Industries

food; footwear, apparel and clothing; lumber, oil, cement, chemicals, mining, basic metals, hydropower

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

6.73% (2022 est.) 2.04% (2021 est.) 1.62% (2020 est.) note: annual % change based on consumer prices

Labor force

1.388 million (2023 est.) note: number of people ages 15 or older who are employed or seeking work

Population below poverty line

22% (2020 est.) note: % of population with income below national poverty line

Public debt

82.38% of GDP (2021 est.) note: central government debt as a % of GDP

Real GDP (purchasing power parity)

$49.592 billion (2023 est.) $47.943 billion (2022 est.) $45.723 billion (2021 est.) note: data in 2021 dollars

Real GDP growth rate

3.44% (2023 est.) 4.86% (2022 est.) 8.91% (2021 est.) note: annual GDP % growth based on constant local currency

Real GDP per capita

$18,100 (2023 est.) $17,300 (2022 est.) $16,300 (2021 est.) note: data in 2021 dollars

Remittances

8.57% of GDP (2023 est.) 9.23% of GDP (2022 est.) 9.58% of GDP (2021 est.) note: personal transfers and compensation between resident and non-resident individuals/households/entities

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

$6.455 billion (2023 est.) $5.266 billion (2022 est.) $5.635 billion (2021 est.) note: holdings of gold (year-end prices)/foreign exchange/special drawing rights in current dollars

Taxes and other revenues

18.2% (of GDP) (2021 est.) note: central government tax revenue as a % of GDP

Unemployment rate

11.58% (2023 est.) 11.59% (2022 est.) 12.47% (2021 est.) note: % of labor force seeking employment

Youth unemployment rate (ages 15-24)

total: 28.2% (2023 est.) male: 29.1% (2023 est.) female: 27% (2023 est.) note: % of labor force ages 15-24 seeking employment

Carbon dioxide emissions

3.856 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2022 est.) from coal and metallurgical coke: 608,000 metric tonnes of CO2 (2022 est.) from petroleum and other liquids: 3.153 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2022 est.) from consumed natural gas: 94,000 metric tonnes of CO2 (2022 est.)

Coal

production: 379,000 metric tons (2022 est.) consumption: 389,000 metric tons (2022 est.) exports: 31,000 metric tons (2022 est.) imports: 42,000 metric tons (2022 est.) proven reserves: 522 million metric tons (2022 est.)

Electricity

installed generating capacity: 2.635 million kW (2022 est.) consumption: 6.5 billion kWh (2022 est.) exports: 2.123 billion kWh (2022 est.) imports: 3.044 billion kWh (2022 est.) transmission/distribution losses: 1.423 billion kWh (2022 est.)

Electricity access

electrification - total population: 100% (2022 est.)

Electricity generation sources

solar: 0.6% of total installed capacity (2022 est.) hydroelectricity: 99.4% of total installed capacity (2022 est.)

Energy consumption per capita

30.306 million Btu/person (2022 est.)

Natural gas

production: 50.623 million cubic meters (2022 est.) consumption: 50.623 million cubic meters (2022 est.) proven reserves: 5.692 billion cubic meters (2021 est.)

Petroleum

total petroleum production: 14,000 bbl/day (2023 est.) refined petroleum consumption: 26,000 bbl/day (2022 est.) crude oil estimated reserves: 150 million barrels (2021 est.)

Air pollutants

particulate matter emissions: 16.28 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.) carbon dioxide emissions: 4.54 megatons (2016 est.) methane emissions: 2.55 megatons (2020 est.)

Climate

mild temperate; cool, cloudy, wet winters; hot, clear, dry summers; interior is cooler and wetter

Environment - current issues

deforestation; soil erosion; water pollution from industrial and domestic effluents; air pollution from industrial and power plants; loss of biodiversity due to lack of resources for sound environmental management

Environment - international agreements

party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 2006, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Land use

agricultural land: 42.8% (2018 est.) arable land: 22.3% (2018 est.) permanent crops: 3% (2018 est.) permanent pasture: 17.4% (2018 est.) forest: 28.8% (2018 est.) other: 28.2% (2018 est.)

Major lakes (area sq km)

fresh water lake(s): Lake Scutari (shared with Montenegro) - 400 sq km note - largest lake in the Balkans

Major watersheds (area sq km)

Atlantic Ocean drainage: (Black Sea) Danube (795,656 sq km)

Revenue from coal

0.03% of GDP (2018 est.)

Revenue from forest resources

0.18% of GDP (2018 est.)

Total renewable water resources

30.2 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

Total water withdrawal

municipal: 230 million cubic meters (2020 est.) industrial: 20 million cubic meters (2020 est.) agricultural: 550 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 64.6% of total population (2023) rate of urbanization: 1.29% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Waste and recycling

municipal solid waste generated annually: 1,142,964 tons (2015 est.)

Area

total : 28,748 sq km land: 27,398 sq km water: 1,350 sq km

Area - comparative

slightly smaller than Maryland

Climate

mild temperate; cool, cloudy, wet winters; hot, clear, dry summers; interior is cooler and wetter

Coastline

362 km

Elevation

highest point: Maja e Korabit (Golem Korab) 2,764 m lowest point: Adriatic Sea 0 m mean elevation: 708 m

Geographic coordinates

41 00 N, 20 00 E

Geography - note

strategic location along Strait of Otranto (links Adriatic Sea to Ionian Sea and Mediterranean Sea)

Irrigated land

1,820 sq km (2020)

Land boundaries

total: 691 km border countries (4): Greece 212 km; Kosovo 112 km; North Macedonia 181 km; Montenegro 186 km

Land use

agricultural land: 42.8% (2018 est.) arable land: 22.3% (2018 est.) permanent crops: 3% (2018 est.) permanent pasture: 17.4% (2018 est.) forest: 28.8% (2018 est.) other: 28.2% (2018 est.)

Location

Southeastern Europe, bordering the Adriatic Sea and Ionian Sea, between Greece to the south and Montenegro and Kosovo to the north

Major lakes (area sq km)

fresh water lake(s): Lake Scutari (shared with Montenegro) - 400 sq km note - largest lake in the Balkans

Major watersheds (area sq km)

Atlantic Ocean drainage: (Black Sea) Danube (795,656 sq km)

Map references

Europe

Maritime claims

territorial sea: 12 nm continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation

Natural hazards

destructive earthquakes; tsunamis occur along southwestern coast; floods; drought

Natural resources

petroleum, natural gas, coal, bauxite, chromite, copper, iron ore, nickel, salt, timber, hydropower, arable land

Population distribution

a fairly even distribution, with somewhat higher concentrations of people in the western and central parts of the country

Terrain

mostly mountains and hills; small plains along coast

Administrative divisions

12 counties (qarqe, singular - qark); Berat, Diber, Durres, Elbasan, Fier, Gjirokaster, Korce, Kukes, Lezhe, Shkoder, Tirane (Tirana), Vlore

Capital

name: Tirana (Tirane) geographic coordinates: 41 19 N, 19 49 E time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October etymology: the name Tirana first appears in a 1418 Venetian document; the origin of the name is unclear, but may derive from Tirkan Fortress, whose ruins survive on the slopes of Dajti mountain and which overlooks the city

Citizenship

citizenship by birth: no citizenship by descent only: at least one parent must be a citizen of Albania dual citizenship recognized: yes residency requirement for naturalization: 5 years

Constitution

history: several previous; latest approved by the Assembly 21 October 1998, adopted by referendum 22 November 1998, promulgated 28 November 1998 amendments: proposed by at least one-fifth of the Assembly membership; passage requires at least a two-thirds majority vote by the Assembly; referendum required only if approved by two-thirds of the Assembly; amendments approved by referendum effective upon declaration by the president of the republic; amended several times, last in 2020

Country name

conventional long form: Republic of Albania conventional short form: Albania local long form: Republika e Shqiperise local short form: Shqiperia former: People's Socialist Republic of Albania etymology: the English-language country name seems to be derived from the ancient Illyrian tribe of the Albani; the native name "Shqiperia" is derived from the Albanian word "Shqiponje" ("Eagle") and is popularly interpreted to mean "Land of the Eagles"

Diplomatic representation from the US

chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Charg d Affaires Nancy VANHORN (since August 2024) embassy: Rruga Stavro Vinjau, No. 14, Tirana mailing address: 9510 Tirana Place, Washington DC 20521-9510 telephone: [355] 4 2247-285 FAX: [355] 4 2232-222 email address and website: ACSTirana@state.gov https://al.usembassy.gov/

Diplomatic representation in the US

chief of mission: Ambassador Ervin BUSHATI (since 15 September 2023) chancery: 2100 S Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 223-4942 FAX: [1] (202) 628-7342 email address and website: embassy.washington@mfa.gov.al http://www.ambasadat.gov.al/usa/en consulate(s) general: New York

Executive branch

chief of state: President Bajram BEGAJ (since 24 July 2022) head of government: Prime Minister Edi RAMA (since 10 September 2013) cabinet: Council of Ministers proposed by the prime minister, nominated by the president, and approved by the Assembly elections/appointments: president indirectly elected by the Assembly for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term); a candidate needs three-fifths majority vote of the Assembly in 1 of 3 rounds or a simple majority in 2 additional rounds to become president; election last held in 4 rounds on 16, 23, and 30 May and 4 June 2022 (next election to be held in 2027); prime minister appointed by the president on the proposal of the majority party or coalition of parties in the Assembly election results: 2022: Bajram BEGAJ elected president in the fourth round; Assembly vote - 78-4, opposition parties boycotted 2017: Ilir META elected president in the fourth round; Assembly vote - 87-2

Flag description

red with a black two-headed eagle in the center; the design is claimed to be that of 15th-century hero Georgi Kastrioti SKANDERBEG, who led a successful uprising against the Ottoman Turks that resulted in a short-lived independence for some Albanian regions (1443-78); an unsubstantiated explanation for the eagle symbol is the tradition that Albanians see themselves as descendants of the eagle; they refer to themselves as "Shqiptare," which translates as "sons of the eagle"

Government type

parliamentary republic

Independence

28 November 1912 (from the Ottoman Empire)

International law organization participation

has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICCt jurisdiction

International organization participation

BSEC, CD, CE, CEI, EAPC, EBRD, EITI (compliant country), FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, NATO, OAS (observer), OIC, OIF, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, SELEC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHRC, UNIDO, UNOOSA, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO note : Albania is an EU candidate country whose satisfactory completion of accession criteria is required before being granted full EU membership

Judicial branch

highest court(s): Supreme Court (consists of 19 judges, including the chief justice); Constitutional Court (consists of 9 judges, including the chairman) judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court judges appointed by the High Judicial Council with the consent of the president to serve single 9-year terms; Supreme Court chairman is elected for a single 3-year term by the court members; appointments of Constitutional Court judges are rotated among the president, Parliament, and Supreme Court from a list of pre-qualified candidates (each institution selects 3 judges), to serve single 9-year terms; candidates are pre-qualified by a randomly selected body of experienced judges and prosecutors; Constitutional Court chairman is elected by the court members for a single, renewable 3-year term subordinate courts: Courts of Appeal; Courts of First Instance; specialized courts: Court for Corruption and Organized Crime, Appeals Court for Corruption and Organized Crime (responsible for corruption, organized crime, and crimes of high officials)

Legal system

civil law system except in the northern rural areas where customary law known as the "Code of Leke" is still present

Legislative branch

description: unicameral Assembly or Kuvendi (140 seats; members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by open party-list proportional representation vote using the D'Hondt method; members serve 4-year terms) elections: last held on 25 April 2021 (next to be held in 2025) election results: percent of vote by party/coalition - PS 48.7%, PD-Alliance for Change 39.4%, LSI 6.8%, PSD 2.3%, other 2.8%; seats by party/coalition - PS 74, PD-Alliance for Change 59, LSI 4, PSD 3; composition - men 90, women 50, percentage 35.7%

National anthem

name: "Hymni i Flamurit" (Hymn to the Flag) lyrics/music: Aleksander Stavre DRENOVA/Ciprian PORUMBESCU note: adopted 1912

National heritage

total World Heritage Sites: 4 (2 cultural, 1 natural, 1 mixed) selected World Heritage Site locales: Butrint (c); Historic Berat and Gjirokast r (c); Primeval Beech Forests (n); Lake Ohrid Region (m)

National holiday

Independence Day, 28 November (1912), also known as Flag Day

National symbol(s)

black double-headed eagle; national colors: red, black

Political parties

Alliance for Change (electoral coalition led by PD) Democratic Party or PD Party for Justice, Integration and Unity or PDIU (part of the Alliance for Change) Social Democratic Party or PSD Freedom Party of Albania or PL (formerly the Socialist Movement for Integration or LSI) Socialist Party or PS

Suffrage

18 years of age; universal

Background

After declaring independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1912, Albania experienced a period of political upheaval that led to a short-lived monarchy, which ended in 1939 when Italy conquered the country. Germany then occupied Albania in 1943, and communist partisans took over the country in 1944. Albania allied itself first with the USSR (until 1960) and then with China (until 1978). In the early 1990s, Albania ended communist rule and established a multiparty democracy. Government-endorsed pyramid schemes in 1997 led to economic collapse and civil disorder, which only ended when UN peacekeeping troops intervened. In 1999, some 450,000 ethnic Albanians fled from Kosovo to Albania to escape the war with the Serbs. Albania joined NATO in 2009 and became an official candidate for EU membership in 2014.

Military - note

the Albanian Armed Forces (AAF) are responsible for defending the country s independence, sovereignty, and territory, assisting with internal security, providing disaster and humanitarian relief, and participating in international peacekeeping missions; the it is a small, lightly armed force that has been undergoing a modernization effort to improve its ability to fulfill NATO missions, including training and equipment purchases; the AAF has contributed small numbers of forces to several NATO missions since Albania joined NATO in 2009, including peacekeeping/stability missions in Afghanistan, Kosovo, and Iraq, and multinational battlegroups in Bulgaria and Latvia; it has also contributed to EU and UN missions (2024)

Military and security forces

Republic of Albania Armed Forces (Forcat e Armatosura t Republik s s Shqip ris (FARSH); aka Albanian Armed Forces (AAF)): Land Forces, Naval Force (includes Coast Guard), Air Forces Ministry of Interior: Guard of the Republic, State Police (includes the Border and Migration Police) (2024) note: the State Police are primarily responsible for internal security, including counterterrorism, while the Guard of the Republic protects senior state officials, foreign dignitaries, and certain state properties

Military and security service personnel strengths

approximately 7,000 total active-duty personnel (2024)

Military equipment inventories and acquisitions

since joining NATO, the military has been in the process of modernizing by retiring its inventory of Soviet-era weapons and replacing them with Western equipment, including donated and secondhand deliveries (2024)

Military expenditures

2% of GDP (2024 est.) 1.7% of GDP (2023) 1.2% of GDP (2022) 1.2% of GDP (2021) 1.3% of GDP (2020)

Military service age and obligation

18-27 (up to 32 in some cases) for voluntary military service for men and women; conscription abolished 2010 (2024) note: as of 2024, women comprised about 15% of the military's full-time personnel

Age structure

0-14 years: 18% (male 292,296/female 267,052) 15-64 years: 66.9% (male 1,023,515/female 1,055,388) 65 years and over: 15.1% (2024 est.) (male 215,252/female 253,597)

Alcohol consumption per capita

total: 4.4 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) beer: 1.75 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) wine: 1.15 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) spirits: 1.43 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) other alcohols: 0.08 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

Birth rate

12.3 births/1,000 population (2024 est.)

Child marriage

women married by age 15: 1.4% women married by age 18: 11.8% men married by age 18: 1.2% (2018 est.)

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

1.5% (2017/18)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

46% (2017/18)

Current health expenditure

6.7% of GDP (2018)

Currently married women (ages 15-49)

67.2% (2023 est.)

Death rate

7.4 deaths/1,000 population (2024 est.)

Dependency ratios

total dependency ratio: 48.2 youth dependency ratio: 24.1 elderly dependency ratio: 24.1 potential support ratio: 4.2 (2021 est.)

Drinking water source

improved: urban: 97.3% of population rural: 96.4% of population total: 97% of population unimproved: urban: 2.7% of population rural: 3.6% of population total: 3% of population (2020 est.)

Education expenditures

3.1% of GDP (2020 est.)

Ethnic groups

Albanian 82.6%, Greek 0.9%, other 1% (including Vlach, Romani, Macedonian, Montenegrin, and Egyptian), unspecified 15.5% (2011 est.) note: data represent population by ethnic and cultural affiliation

Gross reproduction rate

0.75 (2024 est.)

Hospital bed density

2.9 beds/1,000 population (2013)

Infant mortality rate

total: 10.3 deaths/1,000 live births (2024 est.) male: 11.3 deaths/1,000 live births female: 9.2 deaths/1,000 live births

Languages

Albanian 98.8% (official - derived from Tosk dialect), Greek 0.5%, other 0.6% (including Macedonian, Romani, Vlach, Turkish, Italian, and Serbo-Croatian), unspecified 0.1% (2011 est.) major-language sample(s): Libri i fakteve boterore, burimi i pazevendesueshem per informacione elementare (Albanian) The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 79.9 years (2024 est.) male: 77.3 years female: 82.8 years

Literacy

definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 98.4% male: 98.7% female: 98.2% (2021)

Major urban areas - population

520,000 TIRANA (capital) (2023)

Maternal mortality ratio

8 deaths/100,000 live births (2020 est.)

Median age

total: 36.3 years (2024 est.) male: 34.8 years female: 37.8 years

Mother's mean age at first birth

26.6 years (2020 est.)

Nationality

noun: Albanian(s) adjective: Albanian

Net migration rate

-3.2 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2024 est.)

Obesity - adult prevalence rate

21.7% (2016)

Physician density

1.88 physicians/1,000 population (2020)

Population

total: 3,107,100 male: 1,531,063 female: 1,576,037 (2024 est.)

Population distribution

a fairly even distribution, with somewhat higher concentrations of people in the western and central parts of the country

Population growth rate

0.16% (2024 est.)

Religions

Muslim 56.7%, Roman Catholic 10%, Orthodox 6.8%, atheist 2.5%, Bektashi (a Sufi order) 2.1%, other 5.7%, unspecified 16.2% (2011 est.) note: all mosques and churches were closed in 1967 and religious observances prohibited; in November 1990, Albania began allowing private religious practice

Sanitation facility access

improved: urban: 99.8% of population rural: 100% of population total: 99.9% of population unimproved: urban: 0.2% of population rural: 0.5% of population total: 0.1% of population (2020 est.)

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)

total: 14 years male: 13 years female: 15 years (2020)

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female 0-14 years: 1.09 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.85 male(s)/female total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2024 est.)

Tobacco use

total: 22.4% (2020 est.) male: 38.8% (2020 est.) female: 6% (2020 est.)

Total fertility rate

1.55 children born/woman (2024 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 64.6% of total population (2023) rate of urbanization: 1.29% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Terrorist group(s)

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps/Qods Force; Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham (ISIS) note: details about the history, aims, leadership, organization, areas of operation, tactics, targets, weapons, size, and sources of support of the group(s) appear(s) in the Terrorism reference guide

Illicit drugs

a source country for cannabis and an active transshipment point for Albanian narco-trafficking organizations moving illicit drugs into European markets

Refugees and internally displaced persons

refugees (country of origin): 47,247 (Ukraine) (as of 30 January 2024) stateless persons: 1,948 (2022) note: 47,306 estimated refugee and migrant arrivals (January 2015-February 2024)

Airports

3 (2024)

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

ZA

Heliports

9 (2024)

Merchant marine

total: 69 (2023) by type: general cargo 46, oil tanker 1, other 22

National air transport system

number of registered air carriers: 2 (2020) inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 5 annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers: 303,137 (2018)

Pipelines

498 km gas (a majority of the network is in disrepair and parts of it are missing), 249 km oil (2015)

Ports

total ports: 3 (2024) large: 0 medium: 0 small: 1 very small: 2 ports with oil terminals: 0 key ports: Durres, Shengjin, Vlores

Railways

total: 424 km (2017) 2021-All the trains in the country suspended

Roadways

total: 3,581 km (2022)

Waterways

41 km (2011) (on the Bojana River)