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High costs "displace" births from Tirana, falling 5.5% in January-June, regions increasing
2026-08-19 09:27:00 / EKONOMI&SOCIALE
The number of births in the country marked a slight decline in the first half of 2026, but data by region show that the contraction is concentrated mostly in Tirana and less in Durrës, while there is an increase in other peripheral regions. Until three years ago, Tirana had a positive birth balance due to the demographic gravity, especially of young people from the regions towards it.
Nationally, 10,229 births were registered in the first 6 months of 2026, with an annual decrease of 1%, or 108 fewer births. In the Tirana region alone, births fell by 5.5%, or from 5,022 babies in the first 6 months of 2025 to 4,748 in the first half of 2026, or 274 fewer births (almost three times the national average). This is the largest decline, both in absolute numbers and in terms of impact on the national result.
In fact, excluding Tirana, births in the rest of the country would have increased by 166, or about 3.1%. Tirana's share of total births fell from 48.6% to 46.4% within a year.
The same trend is observed in Durrës, where births decreased by 5% for the same period. Taken together, Tirana and Durrës recorded 327 fewer births, while all other regions, together, had an additional 219 births.
The birth rate is an indicator of rising living costs in the largest urban centers. Tirana concentrates the majority of jobs, investments and services, but at the same time has experienced the strongest increase in apartment prices, rents and utilities. For young couples, housing insurance, mortgage or rent payments and childcare costs are taking up an increasingly large share of income.
Young couples are finding it impossible to both rent and buy a house. At the beginning of July, the average price of rental apartments (for all types of residential properties) in the capital reached 721 euros per month, according to real estate agencies.
With this level of rental price, calculated with the average gross monthly salary (according to the level published by INSTAT for the first quarter of 2026), an individual living in the capital must spend 77% of his gross monthly income or 97% of his net income to cover the cost of housing.
Unaffordable rents are "driving" young families out of Tirana
In Tirana, plans to buy a home are closer to illusion than reality for low- and middle-income families. The Albanian capital ranks fourth in Europe for housing unaffordability, according to the price-to-income ratio.
Doris Andoni, today an independent consultant engaged with international institutions, with a long career in public administration on housing issues, sees the situation becoming increasingly difficult for low- and middle-income families.
“The development of the residential sector is deeply unbalanced, unplanned, concentrated in the center and within the Second Ring Road, oriented exclusively towards immediate profit. Investments are made spontaneously, without urban vision, swallowing up green and recreational spaces, vital for the quality of life, overloading infrastructure, traffic and every public service. And above all, creating a completely unaffordable housing system for the poor and middle classes”, she previously stated in an interview with “Monitor”. “These classes are being expelled from the city and this is one of the greatest damages being done to urban life, creating a concentration of a single certain category. At the moment, this may not be visible, but it will become clear when the construction is completed and inhabited, or when they are not inhabited, because there is a high possibility that a large part will remain unsold or return to Airbnb, with a purely seasonal character”.
Cost of living, how Albania is becoming a “paradise” for foreigners… “hell” for locals
Tirana falls, the regions grow
The decline in births in Tirana is showing that the capital's economic advantages are not translating into more favorable conditions for creating or expanding a family.
Young people are postponing having children, limiting their number, or moving to areas where housing and living are more affordable.
Meanwhile, most regions recorded an increase. Fier had the highest increase, with 69 more births or 9.9%, followed by Berat with 11.1%, Dibra with 9.4% and Kukës with 8.7%. There was also an increase in Elbasan, Lezhë, Shkodër and Vlorë, while Korça remained unchanged. Besides Tirana and Durrës, only Gjirokastra recorded a decrease, with 19 fewer births. Gjirokastra is a special case due to the extremely aging structure of its population.
The concentration of the decline in Tirana is consistent with the pressure that housing prices and daily expenses are exerting on young families.
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