The Supreme State Audit Office (SSA) raises concerns about the way the government has built policies in the face of population aging, emphasizing that strategic documents are not based on complete data and in-depth demographic analyses.
In the performance audit report on "Government's comprehensive plans and budgetary aspects for an aging population", the SAI finds that the National Migration Strategy 2023–2030, although it aims to address the challenges of emigration and aging, does not contain detailed information on the structure of migration by age, gender, educational level or reasons for leaving.
According to the audit, the lack of this data makes it difficult to fully understand the phenomenon and to build targeted policies for the most affected groups, such as young people and rural areas. As a result, the strategy risks remaining at a declarative level and not having a real impact on curbing emigration and population aging.
The report also highlights that the document does not include projections for the period 2024–2030, relying mainly on retrospective data up to 2022. This, according to the SAI, significantly limits the ability of institutions to predict demographic trends, plan the budget, and design effective measures in the labor market and public services.
Existing data show a deterioration in the migration balance, from -15,030 people in 2018 to around -32,500 in 2021–2022, while in 2024 alone, 8,541 asylum requests from Albanian citizens were registered, with an acceptance rate of only 2.4%.
The lack of territorial analysis of emigration is problematic. The strategy does not identify the areas most affected by population outflow and does not provide data on the distribution by region or municipality, making it impossible to design differentiated regional policies.
In this context, the SAI underlines that inequalities in the labor market are pronounced: the Lezha region registers the highest unemployment in the country with 22.6%, followed by Vlora with 19.5%, while Kukës and Gjirokastra present lower official levels, but remain areas with high emigration.
According to data cited in the report, in Kukës, one of the poorest regions in the country. 35% of respondents say they want to emigrate and 59% of them prefer the United Kingdom as a destination. The main factors remain the high cost of living (58%), lack of employment (42%) and poverty (35%).
The SAI emphasizes that the lack of linkage between labor market and migration data, as well as the lack of territorial analysis, limit the ability of policies to effectively address depopulation and population aging.
The report emphasizes that without a strong evidence base and demographic projections, public policies risk not being in line with the evolving reality, leading to suboptimal use of resources and deepening regional inequalities./ekofin.al
