Last year, the number of births in the country marked its biggest annual drop since 2015 with just 24,688 babies born, but in some municipalities the decline has been dramatic, signaling that in the not-too-distant future, they will be only as toponyms. 

Detailed INSTAT data that were recently published on births by municipality show that, during 2022, in the Municipality of Puka, births suffered the largest annual decline in the country by 40%. Last year, only 55 children were born in this municipality, while the year before in 2021, 91 babies were born. 

Municipalities of Këlcyra with 38.6%, Rrogozhina with 36.3%, Konispoli with 32.7%, Memaliajt with 28.%, Mirdita with 27.7% were ranked for the biggest drop in births. 

Out of 61 municipalities that are the whole country, in 54 of them births were on the decline compared to 2021, and in only 7 of the municipalities was an increase. 

The official data of INSTAT show that the birth rate experienced the greatest increase in the municipality of Delvina with 21%, further in the Municipality of Libohova with 19%, in the municipality of Saranda with 14.8%, Himarë with 14%, Përmet with 12%, Tepelene with 5.5%, Patos with 3.9, Vora with 3.7%, Tropoje with 2.6% and Peqin with 1.2%. 

In some municipalities, the decline in births is being influenced by immigration and internal territorial conditions. 

Relocation of public institutions from municipalities to the Regions and the bypassing of infrastructure is rapidly changing the population structure in some small municipalities. For example, most of the public services in the municipality of Puka have been transferred to Shkodër, as the city remains isolated in a mountainous area with a long road distance from service providers. 

A. Asllani, a resident of the city of Puka with three children of school age, said that he is thinking of moving due to the fact that there has been no dentist in the city for a long time. "I have to go to Shkodër because of a toothache," said the citizen. 

As can be seen from the graph above, the biggest decrease in births in percentage is in small municipalities, as the population has decreased at a faster rate than the general average of the country. Having fewer employment opportunities and opportunities to raise children, residents of small municipalities have moved to large regions. 

For example, in Dropull Municipality, only 3 children were born in 2022, and in some other small municipalities, mainly in the South, births are counted on the fingers. 

The country's regions have been suffering from the lack of development policies for decades, and as a result, the population's flight from them continues to be a wound that only deepens. 

A government policy to encourage births through a bonus exceeding 30 million euros per year was not successful, as almost half of it went to children born abroad to Albanian parents. 

(Source: Monitor)