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Albania ranks second to last in Europe for social protection spending
2026-11-06 13:46:00 / EKONOMI&SOCIALE
Albania remains among the countries that spend the least on social protection in Europe, leaving behind only Turkey.
According to Eurostat data, social protection spending in Albania accounts for only 11.3% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), compared to an average of 27.5% in the European Union. This ranking shows that Albania allocates less of its economy to the needy than other European countries.
In relation to the size of the economy, Albania spends 41% of the European average on social protection, while the share of these expenditures in the EU is about 2.4 times higher.
Albania ranks second to last among the 36 countries included in the Eurostat comparison, trailing only Turkey, where social protection spending is 10.9% of GDP.
The gap is also large with the Western Balkan countries, which have lower levels of economic development than the EU average.
Bosnia and Herzegovina spends 21.1% of GDP on social protection, almost double Albania's. In Montenegro, these expenditures account for 19.2% of the economy and in Serbia 18.2%.
Even Romania, one of the countries with the lowest level of social spending in the EU, spends 17.1% of GDP, or 5.8 percentage points more than Albania.
At the top of the European ranking are Austria, Finland and France, where social protection spending amounts to 32.4%, 32.2% and 32.1% of GDP respectively. Germany also spends over 30% of its economic output on this purpose.
Social protection encompasses a wide range of expenditures aimed at supporting individuals and families in the face of economic and social risks. According to the European ESSPROS methodology, this includes pensions, sickness and healthcare benefits, support for people with disabilities, families and children, the unemployed and individuals in need.
The difference takes on particular importance in the context of Albania facing an aging population, emigration, and the need to support a growing number of elderly people. In the context of European integration, the large difference with EU countries highlights Albania's challenge to expand the coverage and financing of social protection, while economic growth must also be accompanied by an improvement in the economic security of families and the most vulnerable groups. /Monitor
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