Even the report of the Supreme State Audit Office on "Government's Comprehensive Plans and Budgetary Aspects for an Aging Population" concludes that current policies to encourage fertility in Albania have not yielded the expected results, despite the financial support applied for years.
According to the audit, the "baby bonus" scheme, implemented since January 2019 as an instrument to encourage births and support young mothers, has failed to have a real impact on increasing the birth rate. Data shows that in 2021, about 3.3 million lek were spent on this scheme, while in 2024 the fund has dropped to 2.2 million lek, also reflecting a contraction in financial support.
At the same time, demographic indicators continue to deteriorate. In the first quarter of 2025, births decreased by 14.1% compared to the same period in 2024, while in the second quarter the decrease is 7.4%. The natural increase of the population results in negative, with -883 people in the first three months of 2025 alone. In the long term, the fertility rate has suffered a significant decrease, from 1.71 children per woman in 2012 to 1.21 in 2023, significantly lower than the European Union average of 1.38 births per woman.
The SAI emphasizes that these indicators clearly prove that the "baby bonus" is not a sufficient instrument to reverse the population aging trend.
The report also highlights that families with children face higher economic pressure, with the risk of being in poverty reaching 24.8% in 2024, compared to 10.5% for families without children, indicating that economic factors remain a major obstacle to increasing fertility. In this context, the audit concludes that more comprehensive and long-term policies are needed to support families, beyond immediate payments.
In parallel, the SAI also finds significant weaknesses in the financial implementation of the 2020–2024 Ageing Plan. For important activities such as raising awareness about the employment of the elderly and creating the “university of the third age” model, a fund of 18,957 million lek was planned, but in the end only 7,800 million lek were spent, or 41% of the plan. According to the audit, financial reporting was general and without division according to specific activities, while the failure to achieve some objectives was justified by the Covid-19 pandemic and the lack of detailed information on expenses.
There have also been problems in the financing of social services. From the monitoring of the National Strategy for Social Protection 2024–2030, the Social Fund is insufficient to cope with the growing demand, while there is a lack of clear data for the comparison between planned and realized funds. At the local level, a lack of capacities for effective planning and management of social programs is identified.
Along the same lines, the audit highlights instability in the implementation of employment promotion programs. Implementation levels fluctuate strongly from 28% in 2020, to 75% in 2021, 97% in 2022, 68% in 2023 and 95% in 2024, while for the first eight months of 2025, implementation drops to 46%.
Even the Youth Guarantee Program, launched in October 2023, presents problems in implementation, with 0% implementation in the first year, 80% in 2024 and only 19% in the first eight months of 2025, despite planned funds of 200 million lek for the period 2024–2025.
In conclusion, the SAI emphasizes that in the face of these developments, the baby bonus policy should be reviewed as a priority and supplemented with other forms of support, including monthly financial assistance for several years, as applied in countries in the region and the European Union. Institutions are also required to improve financial planning and monitoring, increase resources for social services and ensure more effective implementation of employment programs, in order to realistically address the challenges of population aging./ekofin.al/
