Prime Minister Rama stated that the World Bank is widely regarded as one of the most credible international institutions due to its expertise and the reliable reports on poverty levels. He noted that, according to the World Bank’s report from the previous year, poverty in Albania has seen a significant decline. According to the World Bank, the poverty rate has decreased to 21%, down from 41% in 2016,” he affirmed.
Rama remarked, “The World Bank attributes this decline to robust growth in Gross Domestic Product, with further reductions anticipated, and poverty is expected to drop below 20% by 2024.” He further pointed out, “We must consider that, when examining another factor—such as consumption—poverty has become far more relative than it previously was.”

Speaking about the level of consumption both nationally and in the Dibër region, the Prime Minister stated that the consumption of Albanian households as a whole has increased by nearly 35% during this period of socialist governance, while in the region of Dibra region, consumption has risen by 11.2%.

“The Gross National Product was below 10 billion euros when we took office. By 2024, it has grown to 25 billion euros. This marks a two-and-a-half-fold increase over a decade, especially when considering the challenges we faced in our first term to pull the country out of crisis. This is a historic leap,” Rama stated.

The PM also also addressed the issue of the social protection budget, which has reached 300 million euros. According to Rama, when the socialist government took office, there were over 100,000 families receiving economic assistance.

“We have adopted more tailored policies on economic assistance for families with three or more children. We have doubled economic assistance for female-headed households with up to two children, for 5,200 elderly individuals over 65 who are living alone, and tripled it for children without parental care and women who are victims of violence and trafficking,” the Prime Minister stated.

Rama outlined several initiatives to support families, including state-paid social and health insurance for unemployed mothers with three or more children, increased support for children with special needs and their mothers, and a restructured baby bonus program starting in 2026, with monthly payments based on the number of children. The goal is to promote employment and help those able to work transition out of economic assistance.

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