The suburbs are empty, 52% of the population in Albania lives in the 7 big cities
2024-08-25 10:44:00
TiranaPost
From the 2011 Census to the 2023 Census, the population shrank by about 420,000 inhabitants, reaching 2,402,113, from about 2,820,000 in 2011.
Overall, the number of the population living in the country was reduced by 14.8%, but internal immigration has caused the remaining population to concentrate in the main cities, while the population in the peripheral cities has declined significantly.
52% of the population lived in the 7 municipalities of the country, Tirana, Durrës, Elbasan, Shkodër, Fier, Kamze and Vorë, while 48% of the population lived in the other 54 municipalities.
In 2011, 47% of the population lived in the 7 large municipalities.
The capital has further increased its share of the total population, despite the fact that the population in the capital has grown less than the official figures before the census.
In Tirana, in 2023, a total of 598,176 inhabitants were counted, or about 40 thousand inhabitants more than in 2011.
In the 12 years between the two censuses, Tirana has increased by about 3,300 inhabitants per year, or many times less than the projections of the Municipality of Tirana, which granted construction permits in recent years, based on an annual population increase in the capital of over 16 -20 thousand inhabitants per year.
On the other hand, almost 26% of the country's population lives in Tirana, in 2011 19% of the population lived in the capital. Also in Durrës, in 2023, 6.4% of the population lived, from 6.3% in 2011.
In some cities, the weight of the population in relation to the total has suffered a significant decrease between the two censuses. For example, 4.3% of the population lived in Shkodër in 2023 from 4.8% in 2011. Each of the country's 30 municipalities has less than 1% of the total population.
Urbanist Kaprata said that the high concentration of the population in large urban areas brings negative complications in the urban quality of life, the economic model, the social structure, the political model, etc.
Census data shows that municipalities in Albania still have a higher population than municipalities among OECD countries, but the government needs a new allocation of resources and policies.
According to data from the Organization for Co-operation and Development OECD in 2019-2020, the average size of municipalities among OECD member states was 10,254 inhabitants, 26% of them had less than 2,000 inhabitants and 41% have less than 5,000 inhabitants.
In ten OECD countries, 80% of local units had fewer than 5,000 inhabitants.
In the Western Balkans, local units tend to have larger populations. In 2021, the average size of municipalities was about 27,500 inhabitants.
In Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro and North Macedonia, the municipalities administer less than 30 thousand inhabitants on average, while in Albania more than 70 thousand inhabitants (with the civil registry population, over 4.2 million inhabitants).
The OECD recommends that the countries of the Western Balkans should have taken for reference in the governance of the local government France or Austria, where the units administer fewer inhabitants.
States often undertake territorial reforms to respond to demographic changes, socio-economic changes or fiscal pressures from consolidation.
Albania undertook one in 2015, where it concentrated local government governance in 61 municipalities, consolidating over 370 municipalities across the country.
Municipal merger processes have been developed in several European and OECD member countries. Mergers are often seen as a threat to local identity and historical legacies, which explains the resistance in many countries (eg France, Slovakia).
In Albania, the territorial reform, which expanded the size of local government, has completely worsened the quality of services, as it has left rural areas without most services - noted a World Bank analysis last year.
*originally published in Monitor
