TIRANA, May  25 /ATA/ In 2022, the natural population change was positive, with 690 more births reported than deaths, climbing back to the pre-pandemic positive trend.

According to the report published by the Institute of Statistics (INSTAT), during 2022, 24,688 babies were born, marking a decrease of 9.3%, compared to the previous year, while the number of deaths was 23,998 people, marking a decrease of 21.3% compared to the previous year.

Five regions of the country recorded a positive natural change of the population, while in the other seven regions the natural change of the population was negative.

The region with the highest natural growth was Tirana, with 3,262 more births than deaths, while the region with the lowest natural change was Korça, with 959 more deaths than births.

Preliminary INSTAT data show that the number of births in the first quarter of 2023 is 5164, marking a decrease of 16.9%, compared to the first quarter of 2022, while the number of deaths is 5557, marking a decrease of 31.6% , compared to the first quarter of 2022.

The natural population change, in the first quarter of 2023, sees 393 more deaths than births.

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