Poverty in Albania

Poverty is a concept which is expressed quantitatively and based on the indicators of per capita income and the ability of individuals to meet basic living needs.

The most important indicators of poverty are: the percentage of population living in absolute poverty (defined in Albania as the number of persons with a real monthly consumption below 4,891 ALL), and the percentage of population living in extreme poverty (defined as the number of persons who have difficulties in meeting basic food needs).

The methodology used to calculate the figures we mention here is based on surveys conducted in Albanian families during June 2002, July 2005 and August 2008 according to a project of INSTAT (Albanian Institute of Statistics), UNDP and the World Bank.

The survey data indicate that in 2008, about 12.4% of the population lived in absolute poverty (about 373,137 persons), while it was 25.4% in 2002 (about 813,196 persons). The following figure shows the number of persons living in absolute poverty by year and by area:

^{Source: INSTAT (Albanian Institute of Statistics), UNDP and World Bank
Analysis and comments: ODA}

Most of the people living in absolute poverty live in rural areas, although the differences related to absolute poverty over the years between urban and rural areas have decreased.

Regarding the extreme poverty level, this indicator has been decreasing at the same time. According to the survey data in 2008, about 1.2% of the population lived in extreme poverty (about 36,110 persons), while it was 4.7% in 2002 (about 150,473 persons). Graphically it is represented as follows:

^{Source: INSTAT (Albanian Institute of Statistics), UNDP and World Bank
Analysis and comments: ODA}

The entire dataset is shown in the table below:

^{Source: INSTAT (Albanian Institute of Statistics), UNDP and World Bank
Analysis and comments: ODA}