The report, “Women and Men in Albania 2026”, said there were 1,181,981 women and 1,153,949 men at the end of 2025, meaning women outnumbered men by about 28,000.

Albania’s resident population stood at 2,335,930, with women accounting for 50.6% and men 49.4%. Compared with the end of 2024, the male population fell by 1.3%, while the female population declined by 1%.

Natural population growth remained positive in 2025, with 1,063 more births than deaths among women and 84 among men.

A total of 22,541 live births were recorded during the year, 769 fewer than in 2024. The sex ratio at birth was 108 boys for every 100 girls.

Infant mortality stood at 5.6 deaths per 1,000 live births for boys and 3.8 for girls.

Health and abortions

Diseases of the circulatory system remained the leading cause of death for both sexes in 2025, accounting for 54.5% of female deaths and 51.6% of male deaths.

There were 4,277 abortions and 22,541 live births during the year, equivalent to about 190 abortions per 1,000 live births.

Among women aged 15-19, the highest abortion rate was recorded at age 18, at 176.8 abortions per 1,000 live births. Women aged 20-34 accounted for 56.8% of all abortions. 

Education

In the 2024-25 academic year, 28,939 students graduated from higher education, of whom 65.3% were women. Their share fell by 0.5 percentage points from the previous academic year.

Women accounted for 79.6% of teaching staff in lower secondary education and 71.7% in upper secondary education in the 2025-26 school year.

Among full-time academic staff in higher education, women represented 35.8% of professors, 60.5% of doctors and 58.3% of academics and lecturers without academic titles.

Among female graduates in 2024-25, the most popular fields were health and welfare, at 27.6%, followed by business, administration and law at 24.6%, and social sciences, journalism and information at 11%.

For male graduates, engineering, manufacturing and construction were the leading fields, followed by business, administration and law at 20.8%, and information and communications technology at 14%.

Among the population aged 25 and over in 2025, 50% of women and 42.3% of men had completed primary or lower secondary education. The corresponding shares for upper secondary education were 30% and 40.2%, while 19.9% of women and 17.6% of men had completed higher education.

Labour market and social protection

The labour-force participation rate among people aged 15-64 was 70.1% for women and 82.7% for men in 2025, while employment rates stood at 62.7% and 76%, respectively.

Among employed women aged 15-64, 55.2% were wage earners and 25% were unpaid family workers.

Agriculture accounted for the largest share of female employment, at 38.4%. In trade, transport, accommodation, business and administrative services, women accounted for 24.1% of female employment, compared with 31.1% for men.

The unemployment rate was 10.6% for women and 8.2% for men. Compared with 2024, it fell by 0.7 percentage points for men but rose by 0.6 points for women.

Among economically inactive people aged 15 and over, 15.1% of women and 0.7% of men identified household duties as their main status.

Women accounted for 55.3% of registered unemployed jobseekers. Nearly half of female jobseekers, 49.4%, and 47.3% of male jobseekers had lower secondary education.

At the end of 2025, women accounted for 48.4% of urban pension beneficiaries and 69.1% of rural pension beneficiaries.

The gender pay gap narrowed to 4.6% in 2025 from 4.9% in 2024, with women’s average gross monthly pay 4.6% lower than men’s.

Women in decision-making

Women held 35% of seats in Albania’s parliament in 2025, with 49 women among the 140 lawmakers.

Women accounted for 37.5% of ambassadors in Albania’s diplomatic missions and 66.7% of those holding the rank of minister plenipotentiary.

Of 348,053 borrowers at commercial banks in 2025, 55.2% were men and 44.8% women.

Women owned or managed 31.6% of active enterprises, rising to 32.7% among businesses with one to four employees. Women-owned or managed enterprises accounted for 33.9% of service producers and 17.5% of goods producers, excluding registered farmers.

Household and social indicators

Average monthly household consumption expenditure stood at 93,042 lek in 2024. It was 96,359 lek for households headed by men and 76,235 lek for those headed by women.

In 2025, 87.2% of people aged 16-74 had used the internet during the previous three months, including 88.1% of men and 86.3% of women.

Women accounted for 55.6% of online buyers of clothing and sporting goods, compared with 44.4% for men. For purchases of computers and computer equipment, the shares were 50.9% for women and 49.1% for men.

The risk of poverty fell to 19.2% in 2024 from 19.8% in 2023. The rate was 19.5% for women and 18.9% for men.

The share of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE) stood at 40.5% in 2024, affecting 41.5% of women and 39.4% of men.

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