New data on the labor market revealed a different picture for 2024, as a result of the integration of 2023 census data into the methodology that measures employment and unemployment performance.

INSTAT announced on Tuesday that unemployment fell in the last quarter of 2024 to 8.8% from 10.77% in 2023.

After the completion of the 2023 Census, INSTAT integrated the new population data into the Labor Force Survey. The population decrease of about 420 thousand inhabitants between 2011 and 2023 has brought “artificial” changes in many economic indicators, including unemployment, per capita income, etc.

INSTAT reported that the official unemployment rate in Albania, in the fourth quarter of 2024, for the population aged 15 and over, is 8.8%, marking an annual decrease of 0.8 percentage points and a quarterly increase of 0.7 percentage points.

The labor force participation rate, in the fourth quarter of 2024 for the population aged 15-64, is 75.5% with an annual increase of 1.2 percentage points and a quarterly decrease of 0.4 percentage points.

For women, the labor force participation rate is 69.1%, while for men this indicator is 82.2%. For men, the labor force participation rate is 13.1 percentage points higher than for women.

Compared to the same quarter of 2023, the labor force participation rate for women has increased by 0.7 percentage points, and for men by 1.8 percentage points.

In the fourth quarter of 2024, the labor force participation rate for young people aged 15-29 is 53.6%.

This indicator has increased by 2.0 percentage points compared to the fourth quarter of 2023, and has decreased by 2.4 percentage points compared to the third quarter of 2024. For the population aged 30-64, in the fourth quarter of 2024, the labor force participation rate is 83.9%.

The employment rate for men in the age group 15-64 is 74.9%, while for women it is 61.9%. Compared to the same quarter of 2023, the employment rate has increased for men by 2.8 percentage points and for women by 0.4 percentage points.

In the fourth quarter of 2024, the youth employment rate is 43.4%. Compared to the fourth quarter of 2023, the youth employment rate has increased by 2.7 percentage points and compared to the third quarter of 2024, it has decreased by 2.7 percentage points. For the population aged 30-64, in the fourth quarter of 2024, the employment rate is 77.8%.