Albania has allocated around 0.3% of its Gross Domestic Product to scientific research and development activities in 2024, according to statistics published for the first time by the Institute of Statistics (INSTAT) today.
The data show a low level of public funding for research and innovation, at a time when these areas are considered key to the country's long-term growth and economic competitiveness.
The vast majority of state budget funds are concentrated in higher education institutions, which have received 54.7% of total funding for research and development. The government sector is ranked second with 43.8%, while NGOs have received only 1.5% of the allocated funds.
According to the classification of socio-economic objectives (NABS), over half of the funds, 52.6%, are oriented towards the “general improvement of knowledge”, through research and development funded by universities. This orientation shows that the main priority of public funding remains supporting universities, rather than the development of applied research or projects directly related to economic sectors.
INSTAT data also shows that fields such as education, energy, agriculture, health and industrial technology receive only a relatively small share of total funds, while investments in research for transport, telecommunications and infrastructure remain limited.
The current funding structure does not go to projects oriented towards the concrete needs of economic and social development.
INSTAT classifies “Research and Development (R&D)” as creative and systematic work undertaken with the aim of increasing the stock of knowledge, including knowledge about humanity, culture and society, and to create new applications from the knowledge gained.
Scientific research includes creative work and original investigation undertaken on a systematic basis to acquire new knowledge, including knowledge about humanity, culture, and society.
The data processed by INSTAT are related to budget forecasts, not to expenditures at the end of the calendar year./Monitor.al/
